President Donald Trump is shutting down a division of the Division of Justice meant to guard shoppers from fraud and harmful merchandise.
Based on The American Prospect, the Shopper Safety Department, which was established in 1971, shall be dissolved on the finish of September, and employees shall be reassigned to different areas of the DOJ.
In a 2024 doc in the course of the Biden administration, the DOJ mentioned that the department “pursued felony and civil actions that helped to make sure the security of essential meals and drugs relied upon by shoppers throughout the nation,” whereas investigating home and worldwide fraud.
A type of actions led to a historic $19.2 million advantageous in 2023 in opposition to the Kerry Group, a meals and elements firm that manufactured Honey Smacks cereal tainted with salmonella at a facility in Illinois. The cereal was distributed to 36 states and contaminated at the very least 135 folks, together with a one-year-old and a 95-year-old.
The Shopper Safety Department additionally went after firms that produced faulty drugs and offered unlawful medical units, a psychic mail order fraud, lottery frauds, and a lady peddling a structured settlement rip-off that ripped off veterans.
Trump’s takedown of the department falls in keeping with his ongoing makes an attempt to wind down the Shopper Monetary Safety Bureau, which was created beneath President Barack Obama. The company advocates for shoppers by informing the general public of ripoffs and scams from banks, bank card firms, and different monetary corporations.
The Trump administration tried to fireplace almost the entire CFPB’s employees however was halted by Decide Amy Berman Jackson, who ordered for all terminated staff to be reinstated as a result of the administration was appearing with “full disregard” for Congress.
Trump’s actions will roll again federal protections for all U.S. shoppers, whereas he and massive companies carry on grifting their method to the highest.
