Share
Trump Admin Races To Weaken Environmental and Worker Protections, and Reinstate Firing Squads
The Republican Cult is doing everything possible to further downgrade our quality of life. Instead of concentrating on a peaceful tradition or fighting COVID-19, Trump's cronies are fast tracking regulatory changes at the EPA, USDA and others. This high-speed deregulation is reckless and shameful, putting the public's safety at grave risk.
Even as Trump and his allies officially refuse to concede the Nov. 3 election, the White House and federal agencies are hurrying to finish dozens of regulatory changes before Joe Biden is inaugurated on Jan. 20.
... these final weeks are solidifying conservative policy objectives that will make it harder for the Biden administration to advance its own agenda, according to people who track rules developed by federal agencies.
“The bottom line is the Trump administration is trying to get things published in the Federal Register, leaving the next administration to sort out the mess,” said Matthew Kent, who tracks regulatory policy for advocacy group Public Citizen. “There are some real roadblocks to Biden being able to wave a magic wand on these.”
The rules range from long-simmering administration priorities to last-minute scrambles and affect everything from creature comforts like showerheads and clothes washers to life-or-death issues like federal executions and international refugees.
They impact everyone from the most powerful, such as oil drillers, drugmakers and tech startups, to the most vulnerable, such as families on food stamps, transgender people in homeless shelters, migrant workers and endangered species.
Many of the last-minute changes would add to the heap of changes throughout the Trump administration to pare back Obama-era rules and loosen environmental and consumer protections, all in the name of shrinking the government’s role in the economy.
Among the changes: the Department of Justice is fast-tracking a rule that could reintroduce firing squads and electrocutions to federal executions.
In some instances the Trump administration is using shortcuts to get more rules across the finish line, such as taking less time to accept and review public feedback. It’s a risky move. On the one hand, officials want to finalize rules so that the next administration won’t be able to change them without going through the process all over again. On the other, slapdash rules may contain errors, making them more vulnerable to getting struck down in court.
“One concern is the rules are rushed so they didn’t have adequate analysis or public comment, and that’s what we’re seeing.”