Independent Agencies

When bankers blow their businesses up, it’s no-questions-asked bailout time. When student borrowers need relief, not so much.

Unfortunately, America’s rail workers are all too familiar with the consequences of how the railroad industry has been operated over the past 30 years. Precision scheduled railroading (PSR) has made the difference. PSR is a business model focused on reducing overhead costs and generating returns for shareholders. Similar to many other business models driven by financialization, it’s effectively  a scheme by giant railroad operators to cut staff and backup resources, push the remaining equipment and personnel to the breaking point, and funnel as much of the cash as possible to Wall Street. And by increasing market concentration even further, the recently approved rail merger between Canadian Pacific (CP) and Kansas City Southern (KCS) promises to make the situation even more dire — for railroad workers, for the communities our rail lines pass through, and for the American economy.

Christine Wilson leaving the FTC is good news for anyone who cares about effective antitrust enforcement. A quintessential revolving door figure, Wilson’s tenure was only useful to her job prospects once she decided it was time to leave the FTC.

The Bipartisan Group That Once Defended Crypto Firms From SEC Investigations May Have Gone Silent In Recent Months, But Their Crypto Loyalties Remain.

The Fifth Circuit is trying to destroy the only cop on the beat protecting consumers. SCOTUS must overturn their radical assault on the CFPB.

Congressional Democrats managed to pass a few crucial measures during December’s lame duck session. One tiny fraction of the omnibus bill to fund the government was the Merger Filing Fee Modernization Act, a measure for which anti-monopoly advocates have long been pushing. And beyond the DOJ Antitrust and FTC’s edict to enforce competition, the FTC has another underfunded but crucial mission: consumer protection. 

The President should remind Wall Street that hard-working Americans hate getting ripped off.

It was a slow fall for independent agency nominations as Senators left chambers for their campaigns and the Biden administration stood paralyzed in anticipation of the midterm Red Wave That Wasn’t. 

Congress passed a $1.7 trillion omnibus bill, ensuring that our government is funded for Fiscal Year 2023. You probably haven’t seen the amount given to the most stellar agency: Space Force. Thankfully, Congress listened to the space advocates and appropriated the Space Force the money we’ve all been begging for – $26.29 billion. Americans can now sleep soundly knowing the Space Force has an overflowing pocketbook to protect us from aliens and whatnot.

In response to news that Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) CEO Jeff Lyash issued a final decision to construct a new fossil gas plant and pipeline to replace an aging coal plant, Revolving Door Project Climate Research Director Dorothy Slater released the following statement:

We spent October highlighting the perpetual underfunding of most federal departments and agencies, and urging Congress and the Biden administration to use December’s omnibus bill to finally provide them with the money and resources they need. Sadly, while appropriations did increase for FY2023, budgets consistently fell short of what agencies requested. The most jarring example may be the Department of Housing and Development (HUD), whose budget is a whopping $16 billion shy of the requested $77.8 billion. Biden recently announced his goal to cut homelessness by 25 percent in the next two years, but it’s hard to see how even this meager goal will be achieved without a fully funded HUD.

In response to reports that the U.S. Senate confirmed six nominees to the Board of the Tennessee Valley Authority by voice vote Wednesday, Revolving Door Project Climate Research Director Dorothy Slater released the following statement:

Low income communities of color made countless sacrifices to keep the United States’s economy going during the pandemic, all while supporting their families and enduring sky-high rents.