Rebecca Pettit is the Chief Counsel for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) at the U.S. Department of Transportation. Appointed to this role in January 2026, she supports FMCSA’s mission of reducing crashes, fatalities, and injuries involving large trucks and buses. Ms. Pettit leads the agency’s team of attorneys responsible for providing legal support on regulatory and legislative affairs, adjudications, enforcement and litigation, procurement and grants, ethics, and employment matters.   

Prior to joining FMCSA, Ms. Pettit served as Deputy Chief Counsel for the Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) within the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. During more than a decade with the FHP, Ms. Pettit served as a legal advisor to more than 1,900 troopers statewide, while supporting specialized units including Commercial Vehicle Enforcement, the Criminal Interdiction Unit, Traffic Homicide, the Specialized Investigations and Reconstruction Team, and the Bureau of Criminal Investigations and Intelligence. She also advised FHP’s Immigration Enforcement Section and worked closely with federal law enforcement partners. She played a key role in developing and evaluating proposed legislation, rules, and regulations affecting commercial motor vehicles and commercial driver licensing.

Earlier in her career, Ms. Pettit served as an Assistant Attorney General in the Florida Attorney General’s Office under the Honorable Pam Bondi and as an Assistant State Attorney in the Hillsborough County 13th Judicial Circuit under the Honorable Mark Ober.

Ms. Pettit earned her Juris Doctor from the West Virginia University College of Law and is a proud Mountaineer.