The safety agency still has a much larger workforce than it had during Trump’s first term in office
February 25, 2025 at 10:30
- The regulators have opened two new investigations into Tesla over the past four months.
- According to the NHTSA, it is retaining all positions critical to help save lives.
As President Donald Trump continues to cull the federal workforce, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has revealed it has laid off 4% of its staff. Under the Biden administration, the agency swelled by a massive 30%, and before the cuts, it employed approximately 800 people.
Trump’s new best friend and the man behind the Department of Government Efficiency, Elon Musk has been critical of the NHTSA in the past and the agency currently has several probes into Tesla that are still ongoing. While Musk could conceivably benefit from a reduction in the NHTSA’s workforce, the agency has insisted it has “retained positions critical to the mission of saving lives, preventing injuries, and reducing economic costs due to road traffic crashes.”
Read: Feds Probe 2.6M Teslas After Several Crashes Linked To “Smart” Remote Summon
Additionally, the agency said it “will continue to enforce the law on all manufacturers of motor vehicles and equipment,” while noting that even after the cuts, it’s “still considerably larger today than it was four years ago.”
Tesla Investigations
The NHTSA has opened two important investigations into Tesla over the past four months, Reuters reports. In October, the regulatory agency launched an investigation into 2.4 million Tesla vehicles fitted with the Full Self-Driving system, following four reported crashes and a fatal collision in 2023. The probe noted that the crashes occured during times of reduced visibility, such as fog, airborne dust, or while impacted by sun glare.
In January, the NHTSA launched a preliminary investigation into 2.6 million Tesla vehicles with the Summon feature, which allows them to be controlled remotely. It opened this investigation after reports of four accidents and suggested vehicles were failing to detect parked vehicles and posts. It’s looking into the system’s line of sight requirements, use on public roads, and maximum speed.
Earlier this month, Trump nominated former Apple employee Jonathon Morrison as the NHTSA’s administrator. This nomination came shortly after US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the government’s probes into Tesla’s self-driving systems would continue despite Musk’s close relationship with the President.
