Biden Administration Signals An End to Trump’s Deregulatory Nightmare

 Within hours of being sworn in as the 46th President of the United States, Joe Biden signed an Executive Order designed to protect worker safety in the age of Covid, specifically requiring OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) to protect workers and ensure equity in enforcement of worker safety statutes and rules. In other words, Biden was telling OSHA to do what the former administration failed to do, namely to do their job and protect workers. As we all know, President Biden, also within hours of his inauguration, issued a mask mandate for all government employees and on all government sites, including the White House, as well as mandating mask-wearing during all forms of interstate travel (bus, train, plane, etc.)...all in the name of public safety. 

Probably sensing that there was a new sheriff coming to town, the CPSC (Consumer Product Safety Commission), one week before the Biden swearing-in, issued the first major U.S. consumer penalty in almost three years against North Carolina-based Kidde Company, manufacturer of a very popular fire extinguisher. Kidde was fined $12 million when the CPSC determined that they failed to report significant fire-extinguisher defects in a timely manner to the CPSC, thus violating Federal Statutes that call for product manufacturers to report any known defects associated with their products to the CPSC. The problem with their popular fire extinguishers was linked to defective plastic handles which either failed to discharge or required dangerously excessive force to operate, according to the CPSC, who linked one death directly to the failure of a Kidde extinguisher to operate properly. In 2017, Kidde recalled approximately 38 million extinguishers manufactured since 1973 and sold at WalMart, Home Depot, Amazon and elsewhere. Their problem wasn't the recall; their problem was that they waited too long to notify the CPSC and at least one consumer advocate, Sally Greenberg, executive director of the National Consumers League, believes their failure to notify the CPSC was intended to "minimize the extent of the defective fire extinguisher." Could this be still another example of a greedy corporation placing their profits over your safety? Shocking! 

What's also shocking is that this penalty was ONLY THE SECOND MAJOR PENALTY HANDED OUT BY THE CPSC SINCE TRUMP TOOK OFFICE! Aside from Kidde, the only other major penalty administered by the nation's top consumer watchdog agency was a $27 million fine against ATV manufacturer, Polaris, in 2018 for a fire hazard linked to their ATV's. Perhaps, in what could be the understatement of the year, consumer advocate and legislative director at the Consumer Federation of America, Rachel Weintraub, concluded that "Enforcement has been down under the Trump administration, not only at the Consumer Product Safety Commission, but at many, many agencies." 


The penalty against Kidde could signal a big shift in enforcement, establishing meaningful regulations intended to protect consumers, certainly not a concern of the Trump presidency which left the CPSC practically rudderless without any permanent head since 2018. As further evidence of his scorn for consumer safety and the CPSC, Trump in 2019 tried to nominate Nancy Beck, a former chemical industry executive who pushed to relax rules on toxic chemicals at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), as the new head of the CPSC. Fortunately, the Senate blocked this dangerous nomination, leaving Robert Adler, a holdover from the Obama administration, as Acting Chair of the CPSC.


In addition to searching for a strong consumer advocate to head the CPSC, Biden is also searching for a strong scientist to lead the FDA, which many believe was heavily politicized by outgoing Commissioner Stephen Hahn. The current acting FDA Commissioner, Janet Woodcock, a longtime drug regulator and career civil servant, is currently viewed as the frontrunner for the position. Further evidence of Biden's intention to lead on consumer, environmental and public safety is his pick to head the EPA, Michael Regan, head of North Carolina's Department of Environmental Quality, whose opening remarks to Congress included a pledge to "restore science and transparency at the agency while focusing on marginalized communities and combating climate change with a strong sense of urgency."


All of these fines, executive orders, appointments and nominations definitely signal that Trump's deregulatory nightmare, which led to thousands of deaths and injuries, may finally be over. I first wrote about the threat and consequences of haphazard deregulations in the February, 2017 and June, 2017 issues of this newsletter. And, in the October, 2018 issue, I stated that "regulators need to regulate." Let's hope that this new administration recognizes the need for meaningful regulations (and their enforcement) from the government agencies that have been specifically designed to protect consumers, workers and the general public from potentially bad actors who, when left to their own desires, would prefer to place their profits over our safety.


Check out my book "Murder, Inc.: How Unregulated Industry Kills or Injures Thousands of Americans Every Year...And What You Can Do About It". Available in Hardcover, Paperback, Kindle & Audiobook on Amazon now.

HOLIDAY FOOD SAFETY: PROTECTING YOUR FAMILY FROM SALMONELLA & LISTERIA THIS THANKSGIVING

By Dr. Gerald Goldhaber • November 24, 2025
As Thanksgiving approaches, kitchens across the country are about to come alive with the sounds and smells of holiday cooking. While this season brings family, gratitude, and plenty of delicious food, it also comes with a serious and often overlooked risk: foodborne illness. In the U.S., Salmonella and Listeria remain two of the most dangerous and persistent causes of food poisoning—especially during the holidays, when increased food preparation, crowded refrigerators, and large holiday meals create ideal conditions for bacterial growth.Whether you’re hosting your first Thanksgiving dinner or you’re a seasoned holiday chef, brushing up on a few key food safety practices can help you keep your loved ones healthy and your celebration memorable for all the right reasons.

ARE WAYMOS SAFER THAN HUMANS DRIVING A CAR?

By Dr. Gerald Goldhaber • October 30, 2025
The race to develop autonomous vehicles (AVs) has reached a pivotal moment. Alphabet-owned Waymo, widely regarded as the frontrunner in the field, has rolled out fully driverless taxis in Phoenix, San Francisco, and Los Angeles, with plans to expand to additional cities. But as more Waymo vehicles hit public roads without human drivers, the question looms large: Are they truly safer than the people they’re replacing behind the wheel?

TACKLING SAFETY: FOOTBALL, CTE, AND WHAT ACTUALLY MAKES THE GAME SAFER

By Dr. Gerald Goldhaber • October 13, 2025
We are now in the middle of another football season, and the question, as asked every year: Is this sport safe enough for our high school, college, and professional athletes to play? Football has always been a violent sport of collision, glory, and growing concern. Over the last decade, research tying repetitive head impacts to chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) has shaken parents, players, and the game’s governing bodies. The central realities are straightforward but sobering: repeated head impacts — both diagnosed concussions and the many “sub-concussive” blows players take — are linked to later-life brain pathology; helmets and add-ons can lower impact forces, but no helmet or cover has been shown to prevent CTE; and rule and culture changes that reduce the number and severity of head impacts are where the biggest gains lie.

CHAOS AT THE CDC: A THREAT TO AMERICA’S HEALTHCARE SYSTEM

By Dr. Gerald Goldhaber • September 10, 2025
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has long been viewed as the nation’s front-line defense against disease outbreaks, health emergencies, and public health threats. But today, the agency faces internal turmoil, political interference, and organizational confusion that experts warn could have dangerous consequences for the U.S. healthcare system—and for ordinary Americans.

TEXAS HILL COUNTRY FLOODS: DID WARNINGS FAIL VICTIMS?

By Dr. Gerald Goldhaber • August 7, 2025
From July 3–4, 2025, Central Texas—especially Kerr County and the Guadalupe River basin—experienced catastrophic flash flooding that claimed over 130 lives, including children and staff at Camp Mystic. As grief and outrage settle, survivors and officials alike are questioning whether enough was done to warn those most at risk.

TEXAS LEADS THE NATION: WARNING LABELS ON ADDITIVES

By Dr. Gerald Goldhaber • July 9, 2025
On June 22, 2025, Governor Greg Abbott signed Senate Bill 25 (SB25), known as the Make Texas Healthy Again Act. Beginning January 1, 2027, Texas will require prominent on-pack warning labels whenever food sold in the state contains any of 44 specific additives—including synthetic colorants like Red 40, Yellow 5, Blue 1, titanium dioxide, bleached flour, and partially hydrogenated oils. The mandated label must declare the following:

WARNING: FDA DELAYS IMPLEMENTATION OF RULE THAT WOULD REQUIRE NEW NUTRITION LABELING

By Dr. Gerald Goldhaber • May 27, 2025
The FDA is delaying implementation of a rule that would require food companies to print nutritional information on the front labels of their products. The proposed rule was developed by President Biden’s Administration, with a comment period scheduled to close on May 16. The rule is designed to help consumers make better choices to avoid chronic health problems. Such problems—and consumer choices about nutrition—are things President Trump’s Secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has repeatedly touted. Even though hundreds of comments have been filed about the proposed rule, Kennedy’s Food and Drug Administration is delaying the close of the comment period by 60 days. Most of the comments filed so far have come from food companies and food industry trade organizations. “ A 60-day comment period extension allows adequate time for interested parties to submit comments while also not significantly delaying rulemaking on the important issues in the proposed rule ,” according to the FDA’s announcement about the delay. 

WARNING: THE GENDER BIAS IN CAR SAFETY TESTING PRESENTS AN ONGOING DANGER

By Dr. Gerald Goldhaber • April 30, 2025
Car accidents are a leading cause of injury and death worldwide, yet the safety measures designed to protect occupants in these life-or-death situations have long ignored a critical reality: women are more likely to be severely injured or killed in crashes than men. This disparity isn't rooted in biology alone—it’s also a result of a troubling oversight in the automotive industry’s safety testing protocols. For decades, crash-test dummies, which serve as proxies for human passengers in simulated collisions, have been modeled after the average male physique, leaving women out of the equation entirely. The Alarming Data Gap The implications of this gender gap in safety testing are both staggering and infuriating. Women, on average, have different body compositions than men—they tend to be shorter, lighter, and have different muscle distributions and bone densities. These physiological differences mean that women’s bodies interact with car safety features—such as seat belts, airbags, and headrests—in distinct ways. When vehicles aren’t tested with dummies that accurately represent female anatomy, crucial data about how to better protect women in crashes is simply ignored. Studies have revealed the dire consequences of this exclusion. Research from the University of Virginia found that women are 47% more likely to sustain serious injuries in car accidents compared to men, even when accounting for variables like seatbelt usage and crash severity. Women are also significantly more likely to suffer whiplash injuries due to the positioning of headrests, which are often designed with men’s neck dimensions in mind. These statistics aren’t just numbers—they represent lives cut short, families broken, and untold suffering that could have been mitigated with equitable safety testing.

WARNING: ARE MUSK, KENNEDY, AND TRUMP IGNORING THE GRAVE CONSEQUENCES OF SLASHING PUBLIC HEALTH FUNDING?

By Dr. Gerald Goldhaber • April 14, 2025
Recent budget cuts at the Health and Safety Science Services (HSSS) have sent shockwaves through the scientific and public health communities, threatening the very infrastructure designed to protect us from disease outbreaks, food contamination, and medical crises. These cuts have affected food inspectors, vaccine scientists, Alzheimer’s researchers, and experts studying bird flu, among others—positions that are essential to ensuring public safety and advancing critical medical research. The consequences of these decisions will be dire, potentially reversing years of progress and exposing society to increased health risks.

WARNING: IS ELON MUSK'S DEPARTMENT OF GOVERNMENT EFFICIENCY JEOPARDIZING AIR SAFETY?

By Dr. Gerald Goldhaber • March 12, 2025
As Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DGE) pushes for sweeping reforms and cost-cutting across federal agencies, concerns are mounting over the impact on critical public safety roles. Among the most alarming areas affected is the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), where staff reductions may threaten the lives of millions of air travelers. The DGE, established with a mandate to streamline government operations and reduce bureaucratic waste, has come under fire for its aggressive downsizing tactics. Critics warn that essential safety personnel, including air traffic controllers, are being cut under the guise of efficiency, leaving the nation's airspace dangerously understaffed.
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