Washington, D.C. — President Donald Trump and his administration have destroyed countless consumer protections in the name of “cutting red tape” and lessening the “regulatory burden” on American businesses, but as a new analysis from the Center for American Progress shows, these actions are benefiting corporate America at the expense of everyday Americans. In fact, President Trump’s attacks on regulations that ensure workers are paid overtime; protect retirees from unscrupulous financial advisers; and ensure that people pay less at the pump could cost Americans up to almost $42 billion per year.
“Being paid for the hours you work, keeping the retirement you earned, and paying less at the pump should be things everyone can agree on, but they’re under attack by the Trump administration, ” said Sam Berger, vice president for democracy and government reform at CAP and co-author of the analysis. “Regulations shape who the economy works for, and with these rollbacks, the Trump administration is making things harder for everyday Americans.”
“These regulations create commonsense protections for American workers, families, and their environment,” said Malkie Wall, research assistant for economic policy at CAP and co-author of the analysis. “Rolling them back doesn’t just threaten our sense of fairness—it also has a very real effect on people’s wallets.”
CAP’s analysis shows how everyday Americans pay the price as a result of the Trump administration’s so-called regulatory rollbacks. Just three of these scrapped protections, taken together, will cost Americans up to almost $42 billion annually.
- The Trump administration has abandoned common-sense regulations that ensure workers get paid for the overtime hours they work, costing them nearly $1.7 billion to date. In the place of those regulations, the administration has proposed a watered-down rule that provides fewer protections and would still cost workers $840 million a year in lost wages.
- President Donald Trump has taken a similar approach to a rule that protects retirees from being cheated by financial advisers—a problem that costs people $17 billion in retirement savings per year. The president first abandoned the rule and then has sought to replace it with a cheap facsimile that would do little to protect people.
- Finally, the Trump administration is looking to weaken clean car standards, which means that American families would spend an estimated net $23.8 billion more every year largely due to higher spending on gas.
Click here to read “President Trump’s Regulatory Rollbacks Are an Attack on Americans’ Wallets” by Sam Berger and Malkie Wall.
For more information or to speak to an expert, contact Allison Preiss at [email protected] or 202.478.6331.