Richard L. Trumka Jr. is a Commissioner of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). He was nominated by President Joseph R. Biden and confirmed by the United States Senate for a 7-year term beginning on October 27, 2021. He began serving as a Commissioner on December 2, 2021.
Rich is proud to be your consumer advocate on the Commission. He has championed efforts to speed up the safety benefits of important rules, protect consumers from hidden hazards, and deter corporate misconduct. Rich pushed successful changes to shorten waiting periods for CPSC’s life-saving rules and to prevent companies from stockpiling and selling dangerous products. To shield consumers from hidden dangers, Rich has worked to keep toxic chemicals and chronic hazards on the top of the Commission’s agenda. And to deter companies from illegally hiding critical safety information, Rich has pushed for strong civil penalties in proportion to corporate wrongdoing and proposed CPSC’s new requirement to evaluate all civil cases for potential criminal referrals.
Prior to joining the Commission, Rich served on the United States House Committee on Oversight and Reform under the leadership of civil rights champion and then-Chairman Elijah E. Cummings. Rich was General Counsel & Staff Director of the Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy. During his tenure, he focused his consumer protection and public health work on protecting children. He drafted reports on the presence of toxic heavy metals in baby foods that led to government reform on the issue. His report on children’s car booster seats stopped manufacturers from marketing their products for children too small to safely use them. His years-long investigation and oversight of the e-cigarette industry helped bring significant reforms to the previously unregulated products. His investigation into carcinogens in consumer talc products helped push dangerous products off the market. And his report uncovering wasteful government contracts led to over $400 million in taxpayer savings.
In his prior service as an Assistant Attorney General in the Consumer Protection Division of the Maryland Office of the Attorney General, Rich prosecuted companies and their executives for violations of Maryland’s consumer protection laws. He secured substantial judgments for Maryland consumers. And he helped lead multistate data breach investigations affecting consumers nationwide.
Rich began his career clerking for the Honorable Berle M. Schiller of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. He then went into private practice, focusing on ERISA and litigation.
Rich attended Cornell University, where he played football for the Big Red, and graduated with a B.S. in Industrial and Labor Relations. He received his J.D., cum laude, from the Georgetown University Law Center. Rich is a member of the Bar in both Maryland and D.C.
Rich is the proud father of two young product safety testers.