The Rollback · Follow the Money
WHO BENEFITS
Every regulation has a cost. Every deregulation has a beneficiary.
Sources: Federal Lobbying Records · OpenSecrets · Corporate Financial Filings · SEC Records · FEC Donation Records · Court Documents
3M Avoids Billions in PFAS Liability — Drinking Water Standards Rolled BackAmazon, Starbucks, SpaceX — Cases Frozen After NLRB GuttedDuke Energy, Southern Company — Coal Ash Cleanup Deadlines ExtendedU.S. Chamber of Commerce — Non-Compete Ban Killed After Aggressive LobbyingNational Retail Federation — Celebrated Overtime Rule DeathGun Manufacturers — ATF Gutted, Bump Stock Ban Reversed, Background Checks HaltedCredit Bureaus — CFPB Enforcement Collapsed, 2.7M Complaints IgnoredReal Estate Developers — up to 60% of Wetlands Lose ProtectionsFinancial Industry — Disparate Impact Enforcement EliminatedOil and Gas — Methane Rules, Clean Air Standards WeakenedEvery Rollback Has a Beneficiary — And Most Had a Lobbyist3M Avoids Billions in PFAS Liability — Drinking Water Standards Rolled BackAmazon, Starbucks, SpaceX — Cases Frozen After NLRB GuttedDuke Energy, Southern Company — Coal Ash Cleanup Deadlines ExtendedU.S. Chamber of Commerce — Non-Compete Ban Killed After Aggressive LobbyingNational Retail Federation — Celebrated Overtime Rule DeathGun Manufacturers — ATF Gutted, Bump Stock Ban Reversed, Background Checks HaltedCredit Bureaus — CFPB Enforcement Collapsed, 2.7M Complaints IgnoredReal Estate Developers — up to 60% of Wetlands Lose ProtectionsFinancial Industry — Disparate Impact Enforcement EliminatedOil and Gas — Methane Rules, Clean Air Standards WeakenedEvery Rollback Has a Beneficiary — And Most Had a Lobbyist
Government is the Entertainment Division of the military-industrial complex.— Frank Zappa
0
Regulations rolled back — nearly all had industry lobbying campaigns behind them
0
Per year in suppressed wages from non-competes — Chamber of Commerce lobbied to kill the ban
0
3M's PFAS settlement with water utilities — drinking water standards conveniently rolled back
0
In tax cuts funded by $187B in SNAP cuts — the trade that defines the administration
Regulations are not abstract bureaucratic exercises. They are the rules that force companies to stop poisoning your water, pay you what you're owed, tell the truth about their products, and clean up their messes. Every regulation has a cost — and the companies that bear that cost spend billions lobbying to eliminate it.
When you trace each rollback to its beneficiary, the pattern is impossible to miss. The chemical companies that contaminated your water lobbied to weaken the standards that would have required them to fix it. The corporations fighting union drives lobbied to paralyze the agency protecting workers' right to organize. The financial industry lobbied to eliminate the doctrine that let you sue them for discrimination. The gun manufacturers lobbied to rescind the rule that made their products traceable.
Every rollback flows in one direction: from the many to the few. From workers to employers. From communities to corporations. From the public to the powerful.
The Beneficiaries
Industry by Industry
Follow the
Money
Each card maps a rollback to its primary corporate beneficiary — the company or industry that lobbied for the change, donated to the campaign, and profits from the result.
Chemical Industry
Beneficiaries: 3M, Chemours/DuPont, Dow Chemical
What they got:
• PFAS drinking water standards rolled back
• 3M's $10.3B settlement becomes less costly without federal standards
• Chemours avoids billions in additional liability
What they knew:
Internal documents show 3M and DuPont knew about PFAS toxicity since the 1990s and suppressed the evidence. The standards they lobbied against would have required them to pay for the contamination they caused.
Who pays instead: 100 million Americans drinking contaminated water.
$10.3B in Avoided Liability What they got:
• PFAS drinking water standards rolled back
• 3M's $10.3B settlement becomes less costly without federal standards
• Chemours avoids billions in additional liability
What they knew:
Internal documents show 3M and DuPont knew about PFAS toxicity since the 1990s and suppressed the evidence. The standards they lobbied against would have required them to pay for the contamination they caused.
Who pays instead: 100 million Americans drinking contaminated water.
Major Employers
Beneficiaries: Amazon, Starbucks, SpaceX, Apple, McDonald's, Walmart
What they got:
• NLRB paralyzed — union drives stalled
• Non-compete ban killed — workers can't leave
• Overtime rule killed — more labor for less pay
• Independent contractor rule reversed
• DEI investigations threatened
The math: Union workers earn 10-15% more. Non-competes suppress $296B/year. Overtime threshold reverted to $35,568. This is a multi-hundred-billion-dollar transfer from workers to employers.
$296B/Year in Wages What they got:
• NLRB paralyzed — union drives stalled
• Non-compete ban killed — workers can't leave
• Overtime rule killed — more labor for less pay
• Independent contractor rule reversed
• DEI investigations threatened
The math: Union workers earn 10-15% more. Non-competes suppress $296B/year. Overtime threshold reverted to $35,568. This is a multi-hundred-billion-dollar transfer from workers to employers.
Coal and Energy Utilities
Beneficiaries: Duke Energy, Southern Company, coal utilities
What they got:
• Coal ash cleanup deadlines extended
• Groundwater monitoring requirements weakened
• Enforcement shifted to under-resourced states
What it costs to comply: Billions in cleanup for 1,000+ contaminated sites. Weakening the rules lets utilities delay these costs indefinitely.
Who pays instead: Communities near coal ash ponds — disproportionately low-income and communities of color — facing elevated cancer risk and contaminated groundwater.
1,000+ Contaminated Sites What they got:
• Coal ash cleanup deadlines extended
• Groundwater monitoring requirements weakened
• Enforcement shifted to under-resourced states
What it costs to comply: Billions in cleanup for 1,000+ contaminated sites. Weakening the rules lets utilities delay these costs indefinitely.
Who pays instead: Communities near coal ash ponds — disproportionately low-income and communities of color — facing elevated cancer risk and contaminated groundwater.
Real Estate and Development
Beneficiaries: Homebuilders, commercial developers, mining companies
What they got:
• up to 60% of wetlands stripped of protections
• Clean Water Act permits no longer required
• Environmental review eliminated for vast areas
The lobby: Real estate developers, oil and gas companies, mining operations, and industrial agriculture had lobbied for decades to remove wetlands from CWA jurisdiction. The Supreme Court's Sackett decision gave them the opening — Trump went further than the ruling required.
Who pays instead: Downstream communities — in flooding, contaminated water, and destroyed ecosystems worth $23.2B/year in flood control.
Decades of Lobbying What they got:
• up to 60% of wetlands stripped of protections
• Clean Water Act permits no longer required
• Environmental review eliminated for vast areas
The lobby: Real estate developers, oil and gas companies, mining operations, and industrial agriculture had lobbied for decades to remove wetlands from CWA jurisdiction. The Supreme Court's Sackett decision gave them the opening — Trump went further than the ruling required.
Who pays instead: Downstream communities — in flooding, contaminated water, and destroyed ecosystems worth $23.2B/year in flood control.
Financial Industry
Beneficiaries: Banks, credit bureaus (Experian, Equifax, TransUnion), lenders
What they got:
• CFPB enforcement collapsed (20% → <1% resolution)
• Disparate impact liability eliminated
• Consumer protection lawsuits dropped
The pattern: The financial industry lobbied for years to weaken disparate impact — the doctrine that let borrowers challenge lending policies that disproportionately denied mortgages to minority neighborhoods. Now those challenges are functionally impossible.
Who pays instead: 2.7 million consumers with unresolved credit complaints. Minority borrowers denied equal credit access.
2.7M Complaints What they got:
• CFPB enforcement collapsed (20% → <1% resolution)
• Disparate impact liability eliminated
• Consumer protection lawsuits dropped
The pattern: The financial industry lobbied for years to weaken disparate impact — the doctrine that let borrowers challenge lending policies that disproportionately denied mortgages to minority neighborhoods. Now those challenges are functionally impossible.
Who pays instead: 2.7 million consumers with unresolved credit complaints. Minority borrowers denied equal credit access.
Gun Manufacturers
Beneficiaries: Firearms manufacturers, accessories makers
What they got:
• ATF enforcement gutted — jobs cut, hiring frozen
• Bump stock ban reversed by Supreme Court — no replacement pursued
• Background check expansion halted
• Stabilizing brace rule withdrawn
• Ghost gun enforcement weakened despite Supreme Court upholding the rule 7-2
The pattern: Even when courts uphold gun regulations, enforcement is weakened through staffing cuts and policy signals.
Who pays instead: 45,000 gun deaths per year. Law enforcement with fewer agents and weaker tools.
45,000 Deaths/Year What they got:
• ATF enforcement gutted — jobs cut, hiring frozen
• Bump stock ban reversed by Supreme Court — no replacement pursued
• Background check expansion halted
• Stabilizing brace rule withdrawn
• Ghost gun enforcement weakened despite Supreme Court upholding the rule 7-2
The pattern: Even when courts uphold gun regulations, enforcement is weakened through staffing cuts and policy signals.
Who pays instead: 45,000 gun deaths per year. Law enforcement with fewer agents and weaker tools.
U.S. Chamber of Commerce
The Chamber represents major corporations — not small businesses — and lobbied for multiple rollbacks:
• Non-compete ban: aggressively opposed
• Overtime rule: opposed expansion
• OSHA regulations: opposed enforcement
• Environmental rules: opposed compliance costs
• CFPB authority: challenged in court
The Chamber spent $81 million on lobbying in 2024. It is the single most powerful lobbying force in Washington — and its agenda aligns almost perfectly with the rollback agenda.
$81M in Lobbying • Non-compete ban: aggressively opposed
• Overtime rule: opposed expansion
• OSHA regulations: opposed enforcement
• Environmental rules: opposed compliance costs
• CFPB authority: challenged in court
The Chamber spent $81 million on lobbying in 2024. It is the single most powerful lobbying force in Washington — and its agenda aligns almost perfectly with the rollback agenda.
The Tax Cut Beneficiaries
The largest rollback — $187B from SNAP — wasn't for an industry. It was to fund $4.5 trillion in tax cuts:
• Inauguration CEOs got a 4.9% effective tax rate
• Corporate tax cuts extended and expanded
• Estate tax benefits for the ultra-wealthy
• Pass-through business tax breaks
The trade: take food from 1 million children to fund tax cuts for billionaires and corporations. No regulation was rolled back — the safety net was cut directly.
4.9% Tax Rate • Inauguration CEOs got a 4.9% effective tax rate
• Corporate tax cuts extended and expanded
• Estate tax benefits for the ultra-wealthy
• Pass-through business tax breaks
The trade: take food from 1 million children to fund tax cuts for billionaires and corporations. No regulation was rolled back — the safety net was cut directly.
$4.5T
In tax cuts, funded in part by the largest SNAP cuts in American history. Food from children's tables to tax breaks for billionaires. The defining trade of the administration.
Congressional Budget Office
The Pattern
Across Every Rollback
The Direction
of the Flow
Every rollback moves costs in the same direction.
Who Pays
VS.
Who Profits
100 million Americans drinking PFAS-contaminated water
3M and DuPont avoid billions in cleanup liability
30 million workers trapped by non-competes they can't escape
Major employers suppress wages by $296 billion per year
4 million people including 1 million children lose food assistance
Billionaires and corporations receive $4.5 trillion in tax cuts
Communities near coal ash ponds face elevated cancer risk
Duke Energy and Southern Company delay billions in cleanup
Workers who die in heat — 40-50+ per year, disproportionately Latino
Construction and agriculture companies avoid providing shade and water
2.7 million consumers with unresolved credit complaints
Credit bureaus and banks face no enforcement
61 million disabled Americans denied accessible government websites
Companies avoid compliance costs for web accessibility
45,000 Americans killed by gun violence every year
Gun manufacturers sell untraceable weapons without regulation
"The question is never whether regulation has costs. The question is who bears them. Under deregulation, the costs don't disappear — they are transferred from corporations to the public. The company that used to pay for pollution control doesn't pay anymore. The community downstream pays instead — in cancer, in medical bills, in shortened lives.
— undefined
Every rollback has a beneficiary. Every beneficiary had a lobbyist. Every lobbyist had a budget. The regulations that protected you were killed to protect their profits. That is the story of The Rollback.