The revolving door between public and private sectors has included the hiring of Rodney Slater, transportation secretary under President Bill Clinton, by embattled Toyota to head its newly-created North American Quality Advisory Panel. Other ex-NHTSA employees now working for Toyota are Chris Tinto and Christopher Santucci, formerly of NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation, and lawyers Kenneth Weinstein and Erika Jones, both of whom worked on defects issues

 

Some lawmakers want to slow down the revolving door, arguing that the practice has contributed to weakened federal oversight and enforcement of the industry. There is talk of adopting legislation that would make regulators wait two years before from going to work for auto companies 

 

“The relationship is too cozy, and it is not an equal playing field,” U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-Minnesota) told The Washington Post. “They need to insulate themselves a bit. People of our country expect there will be checks and balances and that someone will be looking out for them.”

-Noel Brinkerhoff

 

Analysis Finds Uneasy Mix in Auto Industry and Regulation (by Kimberly Kindy Washington Post)