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1995 Buick Century

I recently removed the inside panel of the passenger side front door to deal with a different problem. I noticed that the seatbelt mechanism was very hot (see picture), even when the ignition was off. The only way I was able to "cool" the component was to disconnect the electrical connector.

Is this normal?

This seems suspicious to me since, I imagine, it would drain the battery and being so hot would lead to a short life of the component.

Does anyone know what this component is?