On the recordNovember 7, 2023
This amendment would reduce the salary of Ann Carlson, who is the acting administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, to $1. While we abhor her radical climate change agenda, questionable ethics investigation, and overall policy decisions, the reason for my amendment is because Ms. Carlson is serving as acting administrator after she failed to clear the Senate confirmation process for the position. In March of 2023, the Biden administration submitted Ms. Carlson's nomination for the National Highway Traffic Safety administrator. Before the Senate could vote on her nomination and after Senator Cruz led an effective opposition, the White House pulled her nomination once it was obvious that she was not going to be confirmed. After the Senate effectively rejected her nomination, the White House nominated her to that same role as an acting official anyway, circumventing the Advice and Consent clause in the United States Constitution on Presidential nominations. I view this as a constitutional overreach and a violation of the Federal Vacancy Reform Act, and so do our counterparts in the Senate. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.
