National Consumer Protection Week runs March 2 to 8. Normally, it’s a time for a national celebration of federal, state, and local agencies, and organizations who provide consumer education and resources throughout the year. The agencies and organizations ensure that consumers have the tools and resources they need to understand their consumer rights, navigate the marketplace, and make informed decisions.
Many state attorneys general offices offer events throughout the week on topics such as how to detect and report scams, stay safe online, and file a consumer complaint.
With the Trump administration’s dismantling of consumer protection programs and actions, it’s a sad and upsetting time for consumer protection.
The Trump administration has shuttered the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, or CFPB, an agency created after the Great Recession to help consumer with financial matters, which has returned more than $20 billion to Americans since its creation.
The CFPB has issued a suspension of work across the agency, terminated probationary employees, and announced a decision not to draw additional funding from the Federal Reserve.
In addition, Trump’s “Department of Government Efficiency” has stripped funds or personnel or both from the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, the National Park Service, the National Weather Service, FEMA, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Social Security Administration and more.
In agency after agency, announcements are being made that important lawsuits against corporations are being dropped due to the Trump administrations pro-business, anti-consumer philosophy. Some examples include:
Securities and Exchange Commission – dropped its lawsuits against Coinbase, a crypto exchange, and Uniswap, the leading decentralized exchange. In addition, the SEC has agreed to drop its lawsuit against Kraken, a cryptocurrency exchange, and it has ended its investigations against Yuga Labs, a NFT platform, and Robinhood’s crypto unit.
CFPB – dropped its lawsuit against Zelle for allegedly failing to carry out effective safeguards against fraudulent activities, resulting in a combined loss of more than $870 million for customers of Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, and Wells Fargo. These three banks are among the seven that co-own Zelle’s parent company.
CFPB – dropped a lawsuit against Capital One that claimed the bank cheated consumers out of interest payments. It also dropped a lawsuit against Rocket Homes alleged a “kickback scheme” from the company to illegally steer prospective borrowers to Rocket Mortgage, which operates under the same parent company, and away from other competitors. Lawsuits also were dropped against Vanderbilt Mortgage and Finance for allegedly that accused the lender of pushing consumers into loans they couldn’t afford to buy manufactured homes.
The Environmental Protection Agency – dropped its lawsuit against the Denka Performance Elastomer plant in Louisiana. The lawsuit alleged the company’s emissions posed an unacceptable cancer risk, and it demanded cuts in toxic emissions of cancer-causing chloroprene.
Dozens of pending and new regulations also are being dropped by federal agencies. For example, the Federal Deposit and Insurance Commission has dropped or delayed Biden-era policies such a rule that would have more closely scrutinized bank mergers.
The Trump administration has degraded the federal government’s ability to deliver critical services to tens of millions of Americans and is endangering direct payments to millions more.
With this destruction of the federal government in mind, it’s hard to know what the Federal Trade Commission, or FTC, with huge responsibilities to protect consumers, is going to do under the Trump administration. More mergers are expected with a possible weakening of the anti-trust function of the agency.
As for National Consumer Protection Week, the FTC is one of the sponsors, a leader in offering events and resources for consumers.
In its announcement about the week’s activities, the FTC focused on scams and advised consumers that one of the best ways to avoid a scam is to talk about it.
It called the agency’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, “a talented staff working to investigate fraud and shut down scams through law enforcement actions.”
It advised consumers to:
- Share information on avoiding scams and consumer protection basics such as how to make a budget and check your credit report for free.
- Order free publications to pass out in your community.
- Watch FTC videos and share them with friends on social media.
- Sign up for Consumer Alerts and ask a friend to sign up, too.
It looks like the FTC may be going to emphasize its consumer education role rather than protecting consumers in the marketplace. Although the second Trump administration is new, it’s already apparent that businesses and corporations are going to be favored over consumers.
