GOP Sen. Moreno slams anti-drunken driving tech rules as Senate considers NHTSA nominee

Grant Schwab, The Detroit News on Jul 16, 2025

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WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump's pick to lead the nation's top roadway safety agency assured lawmakers Wednesday of his commitment to reducing auto fatalities while sidestepping questions on more controversial topics, like the rollback of fuel economy regulations.

"Each year, we see approximately six million crashes, millions of injuries, and tens of thousands of fatalities," said Jonathan Morrison, the nominee to lead the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. "Each number represents a parent, child, sibling, spouse or friend."

If confirmed, he would lead a key agency within the Department of Transportation that manages vehicle safety regulations, crash investigations, corporate average fuel economy standards and more. Morrison previously worked at tech giant Apple Inc., which worked on self-driving vehicle technology for a decade before scrapping the project last year, and served as chief counsel at NHTSA during the first Trump administration.

"NHTSA cannot sit back and wait for problems to arise with such developing technologies, but must demonstrate strong leadership," Morrison said in prepared testimony to the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation. He advocated for the creation of "a Safety Framework consisting of guidance and, yes, regulation."

Morrison sat for questions on Wednesday from the Senate panel, which will play a key role in advancing his nomination. He is widely expected to win confirmation.

The most contentious moment in the hearing came between two lawmakers, Republican U.S. Sen. Bernie Moreno of Ohio and Democratic U.S. Sen. Ben Ray Luján of New Mexico.

Moreno, who amassed a personal fortune running and selling car dealerships, remained present for nearly all of the two-hour hearing even as lawmakers filtered in and out of the room on a busy legislative day. He focused his questions on vehicle affordability and decried "insane federal regulations" that have raised costs.

The first-term senator called out a congressional directive for NHTSA to require anti-drunken driving devices in all new vehicles by 2026 and suggested it was "snuck" into a Biden-era infrastructure law.

Luján, who survived a head-on collision with a drunken driver in 1992, told Moreno in a heated response that the provision was the result of a bipartisan push and named for a Michigan family of five killed in a similar crash in 2019. The requirement has not yet been published.

Morrison responded to Moreno's comment by saying that "no technology is free" but told Luján he is "absolutely" committed to advancing progress on the rule. "I'm not in the building now, but it is a Day One priority of mine to get in there and get a sense of the state of the technology," he added.

On the question of affordability more broadly, Morrison noted that vehicles are "far more expensive than ever" and said that has resulted in an older, less safe fleet across the country's roads. Moreno has frequently made the same argument, as did the conservative Heritage Foundation in its Project 2025 policy plan.

Morrison told the committee: "Ensuring a supply of affordable vehicles that meet consumer needs and wants is critical to addressing our safety crisis. NHTSA can support this by ensuring our regulations meet the need for motor vehicle safety without imposing undue costs or design restrictions that hamper innovation."

Democratic Michigan U.S. Sen. Gary Peters of Bloomfield Township asked Morrison if he supported harmonizing U.S. vehicle regulations with global standards to prevent "non-tariff barriers" on American models and fully staffing key roles in the agency. Morrison said yes to both.

Morrison, responding to a Peters question on autonomous vehicles, also said that technological advancements in the United States were essential to making sure China would not become the global standard-setter for AV policies.

On emissions regulations, which the Trump administration has aggressively sought to roll back, the NHTSA nominee did not comment on whether he thought current fuel economy standards were too high. "That's being evaluated right now," he said in response to a question from Moreno.

He added later in the hearing: "Fuel economy standards, as they increase in efficiency, will have an impact at the gas pump. But they also have a very severe upfront cost."

The hearing also included testimony from Derek Barrs, Trump's pick to lead the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, which regulates the trucking industry. His and Morrison's written testimony is available on the Senate Commerce committee website.

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