When the Trump administration began its slashing of federal agencies and programs, I was relieved to see that consumer products were still being recalled. I thought the agency was going to be spared.
How wrong I was.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission’s Fiscal Year 2026 budget request to Congress proposes to eliminate the agency and asks for a catastrophic reduction in consumer safety funding and staffing.
The proposal to transfer CPSC functions to the Department of Health and Human Services or HHS is unrealistic and dangerous, the Consumer Federation of America, a consumer advocacy organization, said in a statement.
HHS is undergoing a huge reduction in workforce and funding, with widespread layoffs, public health program disruptions nationwide, and grant cancellations, Courtney Griffin, director of consumer product safety at the federation, said.
“With HHS facing its own massive budget cuts and staff reductions, the notion that a new assistant secretary position can effectively utilize HHS administrative and support functions is fantasy,” Griffin said.
Transferring the CPSC operations to HHS will require Congress to pass authorizing legislation.
The budget request will impair the agency’s ability to detect, respond to, and prevent dangerous products from reaching consumers’ homes.
“You cannot propose to eliminate a critical safety agency, bury it in a department that is simultaneously being gutted, then pretend Americans will somehow be safer,” he said. “The FY 2026 budget figures show a blatant disregard for actual consumer safety needs and are entirely disconnected to past effectiveness or evidence-based decision making.
Griffin said the proposal isn’t just deeply flawed, its detached from reality.
The federation calls on lawmakers, from both parties, to support the CPSC’s lifesaving work. It’s the only federal agency protecting the American public from dangerous and defective products.
He said CPSC’s work has saved countless lives, adding dismantling or defunding the agency will leave Americans less safe.
“Congress has a duty to protect American families, especially our children,” said Griffin. “That duty does not disappear because an Administration chooses to abandon it. We urge every member of Congress to reaffirm their duty to ensure the safety of the people they were elected to serve and reject this shameful proposal.”
The photo is of a recently recalled window air conditioner that had at least 152 reports of mold in the air conditioners, including 17 reports of consumers experiencing symptoms such as respiratory infections, allergic reactions, coughing, sneezing, and/or sore throats from mold exposure. About 1.7 million of the air conditioners are being recalled.
