Washington, DC – Today, the National Consumers League, Consumer Federation of America, Consumer Reports, and 156 other product safety advocates sent a letter to Russell Vought, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, expressing their strong opposition to any attempt to eliminate, defund, or weaken the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC).
The CPSC is an independent federal agency commissioned by Congress to protect the public from unreasonable risks of injury or death from consumer products through education, safety standards, regulation, and enforcement. According to a draft budget document, the Trump administration is finalizing a proposal to eliminate the CPSC and transfer the agency’s functions to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
“If implemented, this proposal would eradicate – not reorganize – our nation’s governance of product safety,” the product safety advocates write. “Congress deliberately established an independent agency exclusively charged with the safety of consumer products. Such independence ensures that product safety issues are treated like the public safety imperative they so clearly are. We urge you to preserve an independent, bipartisan CPSC and ensure the agency has the appropriate tools, resources, and personnel to carry out its lifesaving mission.”
Find the full letter and list cosigners HERE.
A video of victims’ parents advocating to protect the CPSC can be found HERE
William Wallace, director of safety advocacy for Consumer Reports, shared the following statement: “The administration should immediately abandon this dangerous plan. The CPSC oversees the safety of more than 15,000 types of products, and consumers rely on its work every day—especially if there is a baby, child, or older adult at home. This safety watchdog must remain independent and bipartisan, as federal law requires. If the administration won’t change course, then Congress must take action to defend the CPSC and protect consumers.”
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Media Contact: Emily Akpan, emily.akpan@consumer.org