The Rest Of It Matters Too
The chaos and confusion caused by Trump's tariff debacle, the destruction of our economy, the erosion of our rights, and the defiance of court orders create a situation where issues that would typically be front-page news are hardly ever discussed.
It is the trick that makes signing hundreds of executive orders day after day, ranging from the absurd to the unconstitutional, so nefarious. Harmful government action can be undone by public outrage, but only if the public knows about it.
Here is a list of other actions taken by the Trump administration that will make life in America worse:
Gutting the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
The CFPB is a government agency with an important goal: “to protect consumers from unfair, deceptive, or abusive practices and take action against companies that break the law.”
The CFPB has achieved its goal by returning $21 billion to consumers through compensation, canceled debt, and other forms of consumer relief.
Trump is firing 90% of the staff of the CFPB, which only serves to help the corporate oligarchs who serve in, or are connected to, the administration.
Ending Oversight of Big Tech
Republicans recently voted to end the CFPB's oversight over big tech financial services, which includes businesses like Venmo, PayPal, and Google Pay. This would have eventually included Twitter as Musk looks to expand the social network into a financial services business, including money transfers.
Elon Musk also oversees DOGE, which determines the cuts being made to organizations, including the CFPB.
Overturning Overdraft Fee Limit
One of the rules the CFPB enacted after years of work was to limit most overdraft fees to $5. It was set to take effect later this year and would have saved US households $5 billion annually.
Senate Republicans voted to overturn the rule last month, and House Republicans followed suit this month, ending it before it could even take effect.
Reducing the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
NOAA is an agency that focuses on understanding the climate, oceans, and the weather. It is continually researching to improve weather prediction and understanding of the impact of the changing climate. One of their departments focuses on severe weather, including hurricane tracking and prediction. 75% of the NOAA research budget is being cut. That is research into tornadoes and hurricanes. Research that saves lives at a cost that is a rounding error on the federal budget.
Last year’s NOAA budget was $6.1 billion. The new budget is a reduction of $1.7 billion. In comparison, the federal spending budget was $6.75 trillion last year. At the same time, Trump is asking for a defense budget increase of $164 billion. No one will notice the financial difference of cutting NOAA, but they will feel the impact of that cut.
Health and Human Services
I’ll quote Politico’s Adam Cancryn's summation on Trump’s plans for this critical agency:
”The Trump administration is considering a more than 30 percent cut to the budget for the Department of Health and Human Services, as part of a sweeping reorganization that would eliminate dozens of programs and consolidate key health agencies.
Public health initiatives aimed at HIV/AIDS prevention would no longer exist. Major parts of the National Institutes of Health would be abolished. The Food and Drug Administration would cease routine inspections at food facilities. And funding for many of the administration’s priorities are on the chopping block, including federal programs focused on autism, chronic disease, drug abuse and mental health.
Overall, the proposal outlined by the White House Office of Management and Budget recommends slashing HHS’ overall discretionary funding to roughly $80.4 billion, down from the $116.8 billion enacted in the fiscal 2025 budget.”
Read more about this here: https://www.politico.com/news/2025/04/16/trump-administration-mulls-sharp-funding-cuts-at-health-agencies-00294781
All those programs and protections are at risk in order to save $36 billion, while raising the defense budget by $164 billion in a time of peace? Saving money isn’t the goal here. It removes safeguards to allow businesses to take more risks at the expense of the country and its people, to increase profits. If reducing the deficit was the goal, then Trump wouldn’t have:
Gutted the IRS
7,000 IRS employees have already been let go. Trump’s plans could see 50,000, or half of the entire IRS workforce, fired. This doesn’t save the government money; it costs it. IRS agents, particularly those auditing corporations and billionaires, bring in more money than they cost to employ.
The IRS lacked the manpower to conduct those audits before Biden added additional agents. The results of those agents were impressive right from the start, resulting in billions in additional tax revenue being collected. Getting rid of so many agents will allow the wealthy to return to cheating on their taxes and committing fraud.
In addition to those cuts, Trump plans to end the new IRS Direct File program, which allowed millions of Americans to file their taxes directly through the IRS for free. Ending that program would serve large tax preparation corporations such as TurboTax and H&R Block, which spend millions lobbying Congress every year.
This is only a partial list of the Trump administration's actions that will make life, our debt, and our country worse. There is plenty more, such as government organizations being ordered not to publicly report outbreaks.
We are currently experiencing the second-worst measles outbreak in about 30 years, which has spread to almost 900 people and taken the lives of three people, including two children, leading to the belief that cases are severely underreported. There has also been a concerning rise in whooping cough cases.
It can be challenging to follow all of these issues given everything that is going on in America, and it can be difficult to find the energy to continue to care, but all of this will negatively impact your life in one way or another. It only changes if people organize, protest, and demand it.
https://www.noaa.gov/about-our-agency
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/27/us/politics/overdraft-fees-limit-cfpb.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/10/us/politics/irs-taxes-trump-musk-federal-workers.html
A Government For The People
77% of Americans are dissatisfied with the state of the country. Only 22% trust the government to do what is right, and only 29% approve of Congress's work. I’m sure you’re not surprised.