US advocacy group warns of corporate takeover of White House

Rasa - A Washington-based nonprofit consumer advocacy group is warning about the extraordinary grant of power to corporate businesses and the enrichment of US President Donald Trump’s private businesses by the administration.

News ID: 429202

Date: 25 April 2017 - 23:14

RNA - In a report published on Monday, the head of Public Citizen group sounded the alarm bells about Trump's frequent meetings with corporate executives and also high-profile positions in his administration occupied by former business leaders.

“We are nearly 100 days into the Trump administration, and it’s clear that there has been a wholesale corporate takeover of the government,” said Robert Weissman.

Since taking office, Trump has met with nearly 200 corporate executives while shaping America's future policies. He also filled the vacancies in his cabinet with the people who have strong ties with corporate America, including Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn (Goldman Sachs), Secretary of State Rex Tillerson (Exxon Mobil), Secretary of Defense James Mattis (General Dynamics) and Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao (Wells Fargo).

“Corporate interests are directly driving policy on everything from pesticides to China, regulation to for-profit college rip-offs. Meanwhile, Trump is degrading the office of the presidency to promote the Trump brand, and the ethical vacuum in the White House is ensuring that mega-scandals will ensnare this administration. America has never seen anything like this, and we have endured only the first three months,” Weissman noted.

The report further criticized Trump for destroying the protective regulations established by former US president Barack Obama, saying that the new rules could hurt consumers, the environment and public health.

"Trump has signed 13 Congressional Review Act resolutions passed by a GOP-led Congress that were deemed gifts to big business because they would roll back regulatory protections established by the Obama administration and were opposed by industry. These have eradicated protections for broadband privacy, Alaskan wildlife, worker health and safety, women's health and streams used to dump coal mining waste."

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