How Trump Is Halting Enforcement Against Corporate Lawbreakers
www.citizen.org
After freeing January 6 rioters, Donald Trump’s second administration is rapidly moving toward a new priority: granting “get out of jail free” cards to corporations facing investigations and federal lawsuits over corporate misconduct.

After freeing January 6 rioters, Donald Trump’s second administration is rapidly moving toward a new priority: granting “get out of jail free” cards to corporations facing investigations and federal lawsuits over corporate misconduct. Trump’s administration is moving rapidly to halt and hinder federal investigations and cases against alleged corporate lawbreaking.

  • Trump administration has already halted or moved to dismiss enforcement investigations and cases against 89 corporations (25% of the corporations in Public Citizen’s tracker of prominent investigations into and enforcement actions against corporations at the end of the Biden administration), including:
  1. All 42 corporations facing Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) cases and investigations (seven dismissals have been sought so far)
  2. Twenty corporations facing Department of Justice (DOJ) and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) cases and investigations into possible Foreign Corrupt Practices Act violations
  3. Eight corporations facing DOJ Civil Rights Division cases and investigations (one dismissal, a case against Elon Musk’s SpaceX, has been sought so far)
  4. Seven corporations facing DOJ Environment and Natural Resources Division cases and investigations
  5. Seven cryptocurrency corporations facing SEC cases and investigations, five of which the Trump administration has filed to dismiss.
  6. Six employers facing Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) cases for discrimination against transgender and nonbinary workers, which the Trump administration has filed to dismiss
  • Additionally, firings of National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) members and EEOC commissioners mean these regulators lack the quorum needed for finalizing enforcement decisions, including NLRB cases against 100 corporations included in the tracker. (There are nearly 27,000 open NLRB cases in total.)
  • 34 corporate inauguration donors facing federal enforcement collectively gave at least $34 million toward Trump’s inaugural festivities. These 34 corporations collectively face 60 separate federal investigations and lawsuits.