The Biden administration withdrew a nominee for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration due to mounting resistance and opposition to her alleged far-left views.

Ann Carlson, a former professor of environmental law at the University of California, Los Angeles, has been nominated to lead the Environmental Protection Agency, despite opposition from Commerce Committee member Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and others who feared she would pursue a radical environmental agenda.

“Ann Carlson’s repeated calls to raise energy prices have been central to her climate alarmist advocacy, but she’s conveniently left out mention of her financial interest in natural gas well leases,” he wrote on Twitter.

“Carlson has signaled that she intends to use her role as administrator of the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration to further her crusade against fossil fuels, but with her investment in the oil and gas business, her attacks on American energy reek of hypocrisy,” he added.

Ann Carlson’s repeated calls to raise energy prices have been central to her climate alarmist advocacy, but she’s conveniently left out mention of her financial interest in natural gas well leases.

Carlson has signaled that she intends to use her role as administrator of the…

— Senator Ted Cruz (@SenTedCruz) May 23, 2023

Fox News added:

The White House announced in an unexpected statement that it had informed the Senate that Carlson’s nomination had been withdrawn. Carlson was nominated by Biden to be the administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in February, and the nomination was forwarded to the Senate Commerce Committee the following month.

A White House official told Fox News Digital that Carlson withdrew from consideration for the position on his own accord.

The withdrawal of the nomination represents the third instance in which a nominee who reached the Senate Commerce Committee encountered obstacles.

Gigi Sohn, who was nominated for the Federal Communications Commission by President Biden, and Phillip Washington, who was chosen to lead the Federal Aviation Administration, have also recently had their nominations withdrawn. Fox News added that Cruz, the ranking member of the committee, has been at the vanguard of opposition against all three nominees.

“Ann Carlson’s withdrawal is a powerful blow to radical environmentalists who are attempting to enlist NHTSA into an outrageous attempt at banning gas-powered vehicles,” he told Fox News Digital in a statement.

“I am proud of our work at the Commerce Committee to stop another extremist nominee from imposing a climate-alarmist agenda on the American people,” he added.

Cruz penned a letter to Carlson on May 1 that was signed by every other Commerce Committee Republican expressing concern that she would pursue fuel economy standards as head of the NHTSA that “run contrary to the law, diminish vehicle choice, impose higher costs on American families, and undermine our national and energy security, all while [benefiting] China.”

The Biden-Harris transition team named Carlson, a former environmental law professor at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), as the NHTSA’s chief counsel in January 2021.

Although Senate confirmation was not required for this position, Carlson has played a crucial role in supervising significant agency initiatives, such as the revision of fuel economy standards.

More on this story via Conservative Brief:

Since September, Carlson has also been serving as the acting administrator of NHTSA, the network reported. CONTINUE READING…