June 8, 2006
Nicole R. Nason is now the new chief of the National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration.
Nason, 35, was appointed as the Assistant Secretary of Transportation for governmental affairs in July 2003. In that job she was the chief Transportation Department lobbyist overseeing all relations with Congress.
Nason has also worked at the U.S. Customs Service and as communications director for former Republican Rep. Porter Goss, recently ousted as CIA Director.
Her appointment left safety advocates underwhelmed. Public Citizen President Joan Claybrook has pointed out that, as head of NHTSA Nason would be in the position of implementing measures that she had opposed as a lobbyist for DOT.
Even other lobbyists expressed skepticism. "Maybe she has talents not yet obvious to the outside world," stabbed one auto industry lobbyist.
Nason, who is a lawyer, replaces Dr. Jeffrey Runge. Runge left NHTSA last year to become chief medical officer for the Department of Homeland Security.
