Trump Taps Deputy Administrator Heidi King to Head NHTSA

The Trump administration plans to nominate Heidi King to head the U.S. National Highway Transportation Safety Administration.

King has served as the agency’s deputy administrator since September. NHTSA has been without a permanent chief since Mark Rosekind left the post just before President Trump took office in January 2017.

Prior to joining NHTSA, King was the global director of environmental health and safety for General Electric Co. She previously was the chief economist for the U.S. House of Representatives’ Energy and Commerce Committee. Before that, she served as a regulatory policy analyst for the president during the Obama administration.

King’s new appointment at NHTSA is subject to Senate confirmation. Among the key issues likely to come up during the process will be revising fuel economy standards, regulations for autonomous and connected vehicles and NHTSA’s handling of the ongoing Takata airbag recall.

Last month King told a Senate panel that NHTSA expects to propose fuel economy standards in April for a five-year period. Earlier this week, Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt described the aggressive fuel economy requirements set by NHTSA and the EPA in 2011 as "not appropriate and should be revised."

King has a bachelor’s degree in economics and mathematics from the University of California-Irvine. She has a master’s degree in economics from the California Institute of Technology.