President takes aim at federal protections

Surrounded by CEOs, President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Friday aimed at rolling back federal protections.

The order, signed by Trump in the Oval Office with chief executives of major U.S. corporations standing behind him, directs federal agencies to establish a task force to review protections under their purview and take aim at cutting those deemed burdensome to the U.S. businesses. Each task force is expected to offer recommendations on which protections to repeal or simplify.

SELC’s Legislative Director, Nat Mund, responded to the order with the following statement.

Since President Trump has said his litmus test for keeping regulations is what makes life better and safer for American workers and consumers, we look forward to seeing him strengthen longstanding protections like the Clean Water Act and new protections like the Clean Power Plan that safeguard the air we breathe and the water we drink.