We have good news to share in three of the 17 lawsuits Public Citizen has filed
so far against the regime since Donald Trump returned to power.

RESTORING CRITICAL HEALTH INFORMATION TO GOVERNMENT WEBSITES

In response to Trump’s executive order on “gender ideology,” many federal
agencies — including the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) — removed important information and data from their
websites.

The CDC and FDA wiped from their websites vital information that doctors and
researchers all across the country were using to diagnose and treat patients,
monitor disease, and save lives. For example, the CDC scrubbed information about
school bullying, contraception, and preventing the spread of HIV. The FDA
deleted pages about increasing female enrollment in clinical trials. In some
instances, information that had been publicly available going back to the 1990s
was taken down.

In February — on behalf of Doctors for America and the City and County of San
Francisco — Public Citizen filed suit in federal court to reverse the unlawful
deletion of critical health information from government websites. We also filed
a motion for a temporary restraining order — which the court granted on February
11 — requiring the administration to restore the deleted webpages and data while
the case proceeds.

On July 3, the court granted our motion for summary judgment, ordering
restoration of the deleted webpages and invalidating the underlying instructions
from the Trump regime.

PRESERVING ACCESS TO VITAL EDUCATION DATA

In 2002, Congress established the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) within
the Department of Education. By conducting, supporting, and disseminating
high-quality, evidence-based research, IES has been the cornerstone of research
on education in America for over 20 years.

In February, the Department of Education — now being run by billionaire former
professional wrestling magnate and MAGA extremist Linda McMahon — began
dismantling IES by restricting access to key data and cancelling dozens of
contracts for research studies and support services vital to the agency’s
functioning.

In April — representing education researchers, practitioners, and organizations
— Public Citizen filed suit in federal court challenging the administration’s
illegal attempt to shut down IES.

On July 1, following our lawsuit, the administration announced that it would not
go forward with its plan to terminate access to certain data.

The regime is still cutting other essential programs and services at IES,
however, so we are pressing ahead with our case.

DEFENDING THE CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION

The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) does what its name suggests — it
conducts product-safety research, sets standards, and issues recalls.

Congress set up the CPSC as an independent agency specifically so that the
safety of American consumers would not be subject to political whims. Under
federal law, the agency has five commissioners who serve staggered seven-year
terms. To ensure the CPSC’s independence, Congress stipulated that commissioners
can be removed by the president prior to the end of their terms only “for
neglect of duty or malfeasance in office but for no other cause.”

In May, Trump illegally fired three CPSC commissioners whose terms were not
complete. Representing those commissioners, Public Citizen filed suit in federal
court challenging the terminations as outside the president’s constitutional and
statutory authority.

Last month, a federal judge ruled in our favor and ordered that the
commissioners must be allowed to return to work. The administration asked both
the district court and the court of appeals to “stay” that ruling (i.e. put it
on hold) while it appeals.

Both the district court and the court of appeals denied the administration’s
motion.

The administration has now asked the Supreme Court to rule on the matter. The
Supreme Court has not yet ruled.

MORE ABOUT TAKING THE REGIME TO COURT

The Trump administration is unilaterally, unconstitutionally, and unlawfully
dismantling the federal government — our government — from Cabinet-level departments that have their own stately
buildings here in Washington, D.C., to small sub-agencies that go largely
unnoticed as they do the routine, unheralded work that makes for a functioning
country.

Public Citizen is doing everything we can — within our modest means — to fight
back at every turn. It’s David and Goliath for sure, but we will never back
down. Even where we haven’t (yet) notched definitive victories in court, we are
slowing down the regime and making it work a lot harder in pursuit of its desire
for absolute power.

Are these lawsuits alone enough to fully defeat Trump and MAGA? Of course not.
But are they a meaningful part of the pushback that is the only chance we have
to collectively save our country? No doubt about it.

What you and Public Citizen are doing together matters. What hundreds of other
organizations, big and small, are doing matters. What millions upon millions of
our fellow Americans are doing matters. We believe that to our core. We take
solace in that. And we draw inspiration from that. We hope you do, too.

If you can, please donate today to support Public Citizen’s work standing up to
the Trump regime. [[link removed]]

Anything you can chip in — $5 or $25, $50 or $100, $500 or even more — will help
at such a critical moment. [[link removed]]

CONTRIBUTE NOW [[link removed]]
Or join our popular Monthly Giving program (if you haven’t already) to help make
sure we have the ongoing financial resources to fight Trump day after day after
day. [[link removed]]

If you’ve donated to Public Citizen already, thank you. If a donation is not
right, we understand. Either way, thank you for being part of Public Citizen.

For progress,

- Lisa Gilbert & Robert Weissman, Co-Presidents of Public Citizen


Public Citizen | 1600 20th Street NW | Washington DC 20009 | Unsubscribe
[[link removed]]