South Carolina Motorcycle Rights Association

NHTSA Administrator Selection

In February, President Trump nominated Jonathan Morrison as the next National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) administrator. He previously served as the chief counsel at NHTSA during the first Trump administration. His resume includes time at Apple and with the California New Car Dealers Association.

As you know, NHTSA is a federal agency within the Department of Transportation responsible for setting and enforcing motor vehicle safety standards, conducting research and working with states to reduce deaths. However, you may not know that NHTSA has been without a permanent administrator since 2022. For the last few years, the agency has been led by an “acting administrator.”  To be the official head of the agency requires a confirmation vote by the U.S. Senate. The failure to find a permanent Senate-confirmed leader for NHTSA has many frustrated in Washington, D.C.

If confirmed, Mr. Morrison will head an agency that recently reduced its workforce by 4% as part of broader federal efforts to eliminate probationary employees. During Senate confirmation hearings, he will likely face tough questions about autonomous vehicles, ongoing investigations into Tesla crashes and the rollback of fuel economy rules aimed at reducing the number of internal combustion engines on our roads.

We at the Motorcycle Riders Foundation will track this potential leadership change at NHTSA and remain engaged with an agency that has sweeping authority over the issues that matter to bikers.