Bush might fire CPSC chief before she resigns

Ann Brown

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- In a sign of lingering anger over a nomination battle, the White House is weighing whether to remove Ann Brown as chairman of the Consumer Product Safety Commission before she resigns, two senior officials told CNN Wednesday.

Brown announced Wednesday she would resign her post as head of the three-person safety commission effective November 1, or earlier if the Senate confirms a replacement.

Her announcement follows last week's rejection on a party-line vote by the Senate Commerce Committee of President Bush's choice to head the agency, commission member Mary Sheila Gall.

Two senior White House officials told CNN that before Brown's announcement Wednesday, the White House had been planning to oust Brown on Friday. The officials said the White House may still move against Brown before November 1 or before another chairman is confirmed. Brown's term expires in 2006.

RESOURCES Message Board:The political spectrum     VIDEO CNN's Colleen McEdwards talks to Ann Brown, the outgoing director of the Consumer Product Safety Commission Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)

"We are still considering our options," said one senior official. "Wednesday's news changes things a bit, but we have not made a decision."

Some in the administration are pushing for Brown's ouster, seeing her as the leader of an effort that torpedoed Gall's nomination.

White House officials believe Brown, a close friend of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-New York, led the campaign against Gall, rallying Democrats to accuse her of siding too frequently with industry in cases where children were injured by products such as baby bath seats and bunk beds.

"Brown engaged in character assassination," said one senior official.

Clinton's spokesman, Jim Kennedy, denied the allegation. "It wasn't about keeping her chairmanship; it was about Gall's record. If they had come up with someone else with a straight-up record, there would have been no controversy about this," Kennedy said.

He noted that Brown's resignation invalidates Republican accusations that Democrats wanted to defeat Gall in order to keep Brown on the commission.

"Her wanting to leave helps underscore that we considered Gall on the merits and not by any other motivation," Kennedy said.

According to a Democratic congressional aide, Brown made a round of courtesy calls to her supporters on Capitol Hill earlier this week about her decision to leave.

Two administration officials said the White House is now considering re-nominating Gall as chairman. The officials said Gall would be contacted this week to see if she wants to have her name resubmitted and fight again for the chairmanship.

The officials said Brown's decision to step down might change the political dynamic. With a vacancy looming on the commission, the officials said, Democrats know Bush would add another appointee to the commission and might decide Gall, though somewhat controversial, is a better option than an outsider with no previous experience on the commission.

Speaking to reporters at a Habitat for Humanity event in Waco, Texas, the president declined to comment on Brown's announcement.

A spokesman for Senate Minority Leader Trent Lott urged quick action in confirming a replacement for Brown.

"It is clear that we need a new chairman of the Consumer Product Safety Commission immediately," said spokesman Ron Bonjean. "Sen. Lott is disappointed that Mary Sheila Gall, who is a clearly a qualified candidate, has not been confirmed by the Senate due to personal partisan attacks."

Brown was sworn in as chairman on March 1994 and was reconfirmed as chairman in 1999. Her term as a commissioner would have expired in 2006.

Gall has served on the commission since 1991. She was confirmed for a second seven-year term in May 1999. She has served as vice chairman of the commission for five years.

According to other administration officials, the Department of Justice recently concluded Bush has the authority to remove Brown because Congress did not explicitly block that power when it formed the agency in 1972.

The Justice Department also cited Bush's broad powers to remove appointees under Article 2 of the Constitution.

In announcing her intentions, Brown said she hoped Bush would nominate someone who would fulfill the commission's mission of keeping families safe.

Brown said she would devote her remaining time to a number of child-safety issues, including the redesign of baby bath seats, standards for bed rails to prevent children from suffocating, and child resistant packaging for baby oil and similar products.

"I plan to devote the coming months to working on these very important matters and others. What we do at the CPSC is keep people safe and protect lives," Brown said.

When Brown leaves the commission, she will start a nonprofit foundation called SAFE -- Safer America For Everyone. SAFE will work with businesses, consumers and others to promote safety.

"When I leave the agency, I am going to continue working to keep families and children safe," said Brown, who is the seventh chairman of the commission.

-- CNN White House Correspondent Major Garrett and CNN Consumer Safety Editor Julie Vallese contributed to this story.