Q. When we first use an acronym or initialism like FMCSA we put it in parentheses after the spelled-out version. If the spelled-out version is possessive, does the acronym/initialism need to be possessive too? Example: the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (FMCSA’s) new rule or the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (FMCSA) new rule?
A. This question is surely one of the most frequently asked; in the next edition I hope we will issue an explicit ban on this construction. In the meantime, please reword the sentence to avoid the possessive: the new rule issued by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA).