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Toy Safety Rule on Button Batteries Stalls Amid CPSC Leadership Changes

2025-12-11

The BareStory

An initiative to apply stricter safety standards for button batteries to toys has stalled at the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). The effort was spearheaded by Trista Hamsmith, an advocate whose daughter died in 2020 after swallowing a button battery. Hamsmith was previously involved in passing "Reese's Law" in 2022, which increased safety requirements for button batteries in many consumer products but did not include toys.

The CPSC has undergone significant personnel changes, with three commissioners having been ousted in May. The removed commissioners, Richard Trumka, Alex Hoehn-Saric, and Mary Boyle, have alleged their removal by the administration was illegal and are in a legal battle for reinstatement. After the subsequent resignation of another commissioner in September, the CPSC was left with one member. According to former commissioner Trumka, the agency now lacks the two-commissioner quorum required to pass new rules.

Trumka alleged that the CPSC’s current leadership capitulated to industry pressure, and he warned that "people will be injured and die" because of the agency's inaction. The CPSC has maintained that the firings were lawful and that its mission has not been impacted, stating that rulemaking and enforcement are ongoing. When asked about the stalled rule, the agency said it measures success by keeping unsafe products from consumers, not by the number of regulations it enacts.

A trade group for the toy industry, The Toy Association, stated that it is not resistant to stricter regulations. The association argued, however, that current science has not demonstrated flaws in existing standards or that the proposed changes would improve safety.

Left Perspective

  • The CPSC is failing to act on a known lethal hazard to children.
  • Agency leadership has capitulated to industry interests, endangering consumers.
  • The agency is functionally paralyzed due to unlawful leadership changes.

Right Perspective

  • The agency's core safety mission continues uninterrupted.
  • The scientific basis for the proposed toy-specific rule is lacking.
  • Success is measured by consumer safety, not the volume of regulations.

How it may affect me

As a U.S. reader:

• Toys with button batteries will remain subject to current safety standards. A proposed stricter rule has stalled amid debate over whether it is scientifically necessary.

• The Consumer Product Safety Commission's ability to pass any new rules is now in question due to a dispute over its leadership and lack of a quorum.

• The availability of toys on the market is not expected to change in the short term, as existing manufacturing standards will remain in effect.

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