Trump Administration Implements More Disastrous Policies

Over the past week, the Trump administration has continued to implement disastrous policies that would hurt women, workers, students, and families across the country. Here’s just a few that you might have missed:

 

The Trump administration proposed a move that would make the National Labor Relations board friendlier toward employers facing worker complaints.

 

New York Times: “The Trump administration’s efforts to reverse the direction of federal labor policy appear to have accelerated with a proposal to demote the senior civil servants who resolve most labor cases. Under the proposal, those civil servants — considered by many conservatives and employers to be biased toward labor — would answer to a small cadre of officials installed above them in the National Labor Relations Board’s hierarchy. The proposal could pave the way for a pronounced shift in the day-to-day workings of the agency, making it friendlier to employers named in complaints of unfair labor practices or facing unionization drives.”

 

The Trump administration made it easier for states to cut Medicaid funds for reproductive health care providers like Planned Parenthood.

 

CNN: “Coinciding with Friday's March for Life in Washington, President Donald Trump's administration announced new measures to support the anti-abortion cause. Included is a move that may allow states to cut Medicaid funding to reproductive healthcare programs like Planned Parenthood. Specifically, the Department of Health and Human Services issued a letter to state Medicaid directors rescinding an Obama administration directive from April 2016, which warned cuts to family planning providers would break federal law.”

 

The Trump administration rescinded a longstanding clean air policy that aimed to limit major sources of hazardous pollution, like mercury and lead.

 

Wall Street Journal: “The Trump administration is withdrawing a decades-old air policy aimed at reining in some of the largest sources of hazardous pollutants like mercury and lead. The Environmental Protection Agency said late Thursday it is getting rid of requirements that it forever keep sites classified as ‘major sources’ of hazardous air pollution once they meet that classification.”

 

Trump’s administration delayed debt protections for users of prepaid cards and accounts.

 

The Hill: “The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) on Thursday delayed its rule on prepaid cards and debit accounts for a year while also announcing changes to the rule … The prepaid card rule, first proposed in 2012 and finalized in 2016, aims to protect consumers from landing into deep debt using prepaid cards and accounts. The rule aims to ensure consumers have the ability to repay any debts before being offered credit and make sure they’re aware of all potential fees. It also bars companies from using overdraft services without consumer consent and mandates they follow the same debt disclosure rules applied to credit cards.”

 

Mick Mulvaney asked the very companies the CFPB is supposed to regulate for their complaints regarding the agency’s investigations of suspected wrongdoing.

 

Law360: “The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's Mick Mulvaney opened an inquiry Wednesday into the bureau's process for requesting documents from companies under investigation, saying the CFPB wants to hear specifically from businesses that have received multiple civil investigative demands.”

 

Betsy DeVos weakened the gainful-employment rule by allowing schools to disclose less information and be selective with job placement rates.

 

Inside Higher Ed: “The Department of Education last week said it was further weakening disclosure requirements in the gainful-employment rule. Under the new 2018 gainful employment disclosure template, career education programs would no longer be required to disclose median earnings data of graduates or charges for room and board. The template also allows those programs to list the job-placement rate from multiple accreditors.”