UPDATE: Public Citizen’s legal team argued our case forcefully. But it’s all up to the judge now, who could rule — either for or against us — any day. Either way, there is likely to be an appeal and you can bet we will continue to need your support.
On August 10th, we appear before a judge to argue Public Citizen v. Donald J. Trump.
In the case, we’re challenging Trump’s deregulatory executive order.
The order aims to make it harder for the government to protect our air and water, guarantee the safety of our food, ensure our cars are safe, protect workers from on-duty hazards, address climate change and much more.
Before we argue the case before the judge, I wanted to take a moment to explain the stakes.
It’s not just what the deregulatory order would do on its own, as horrible as that is.
The order is the centerpiece of one of Trump’s overriding objectives:
Empower Big Business to pollute, cheat, rip off, endanger, discriminate and price gouge free from governmental restrictions.
Trump can’t stop talking about this.
On his fifth day in office, Trump told a gathering of CEOs that environmental protections are “out of control,” and promised to roll back regulations.
A week later, he met with Big Pharma CEOs. In place of his tough talk about medicine prices, he promised to eliminate 75 to 80 percent of FDA regulations — a far more extreme position even than Big Pharma’s.
He’s kept up the talk in his endless meetings with CEOs.
Unfortunately, it’s not just talk.
Trump and his cronies are doing real damage:
- On his first day in office, Trump signed an executive order freezing all pending regulations.That act alone delayed the start date on important public protections years in the making.
- At the end of January, Trump signed the deregulatory order at issue in Public Citizen v. Donald J. Trump.The order prevents agencies from issuing new safety, health or other regulatory protections unless they eliminate two on the books. Without considering the benefits of the rules, the costs of the new rule must be fully offset by the costs of the eliminated rules.If that sounds crazy to you, that’s because it is.
- In February, Trump signed an order directing agencies to review rules and make recommendations for cuts.The New York Times reports that these reviews are “being conducted in large part out of public view and often by political appointees with deep industry ties and potential conflicts.”
- The administration worked with the Republican Congress to use an obscure procedure to repeal more than a dozen rules adopted at the end of the Obama administration.The first such measure was an anti-corruption rule.Also sacrificed were rules on internet privacy, toxic pollution of streams and workplace health and safety.
- On a case-by-case basis, Trump has moved to repeal many of the Obama administration’s most important rules.These include protections against predatory for-profit colleges, a retirement advice rule that will save consumers $17 billion a year, Obama’s main climate change rule and much more.
- Last month, the White House budget office reported that the Trump administration has withdrawn or suspended 860 pending rules.
This is all part of a grand design.
To let corporations do as they will.
Even if it means more dangerous cars. More bank rip-offs. Preventable injuries at work. Dirtier air and poisoned water. Contaminated food. Preventable, avoidable and unnecessary death, disease and suffering.
And the deregulatory executive order is at the heart of the scheme.
We are doing everything we can to block Trump’s project to permit corporations to pollute and plunder.
Please chip in today to help us fight Trump’s plan.
Donate now or even join our monthly giving program.
Thank you for anything you can contribute!
Robert Weissman, President
Public Citizen
