YOUR HEALTH AND SAFETY
Food on your table. Money in your pocket. Safety in your neighborhood.
Sources: Congressional Budget Office · ATF Records · Federal Register · CFPB Records · USDA · CDC · Bureau of Justice Statistics
The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little.— Franklin D. Roosevelt — Second Inaugural Address, January 20, 1937
Public health and safety protections operate in the background of daily life. SNAP feeds 42 million Americans. The ATF traces guns used in crimes. The CFPB resolves credit disputes. You don't notice them until they're gone — until the food assistance runs out, the gun can't be traced, or the credit bureau won't fix the error that cost you the apartment.
The Trump administration cut, gutted, or paralyzed all three systems. The largest food assistance cuts in American history — to fund $4.5 trillion in tax cuts. ATF enforcement gutted through staffing cuts, bump stock ban reversed with no replacement, background check expansion halted. Consumer protection collapsed — credit complaint resolution dropped from 20% to less than 1%. The pattern is the same: the protections that serve ordinary Americans are cut, while the policies that serve corporations and the wealthy are expanded.
$187 Billion
From the Table
The 'One Big Beautiful Bill Act,' signed July 4, 2025, cut $187 billion from SNAP over a decade — the largest cuts to food assistance in American history. The CBO estimates 4 million people, including 1 million children, will lose or see substantial reductions in food assistance. The cuts were made to offset $4.5 trillion in tax cuts.
SNAP — the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program — serves more than 42 million Americans. It is the primary federal program preventing hunger. Every $1 in SNAP benefits generates $1.50-1.80 in economic activity, because hungry families spend every dollar immediately at local grocery stores.
The cuts expanded work requirements to ages 18-64, requiring 80 hours per month. The requirements now apply to veterans, former foster youth, homeless individuals, and parents with children over 14. LIHEAP energy assistance payments no longer qualify households for the Standard Utility Allowance, further reducing benefits. An estimated 2.4 million people per month may lose coverage.
The same bill that cut food from 1 million children gave inauguration CEOs an effective tax rate of 4.9%. The cuts hit rural communities, elderly Americans, and working families hardest — the same communities that voted for Trump.
• $187 billion cut over a decade
• 4 million people affected, including 1 million children (CBO)
• 2.4 million people per month may lose coverage
• Work requirements expanded: 80 hours/month, ages 18-64
• Now applies to veterans, homeless, former foster youth
• LIHEAP exclusion further reduces benefits
• Inauguration CEOs: 4.9% effective tax rate
• Corporate tax cuts extended and expanded
• Estate tax benefits for the wealthy
The math: take food from children earning nothing to give tax cuts to billionaires.
SNAP serves 42+ million Americans. Every $1 generates $1.50-1.80 in economic activity. Cutting it doesn't just hurt the hungry — it drains local economies.
"The same bill that gave inauguration CEOs a 4.9% effective tax rate took food from 1 million children. This is not fiscal policy. This is a choice about who matters.
— undefined
More Guns
Than People
Gun violence kills approximately 45,000 Americans per year — more than car accidents. The United States has more guns than people: 400 million firearms for 330 million residents. The Trump administration gutted ATF enforcement, let the bump stock ban die without replacement, and halted background check expansion.
The ghost gun rule — requiring serial numbers on privately manufactured firearms — was upheld 7-2 by the Supreme Court in March 2025. But despite the ruling, NPR reported the administration is exploring ways to weaken enforcement, and ghost guns "may make a comeback." Law enforcement had recovered over 45,000 ghost guns at crime scenes between 2016 and 2021 — a 1,000% increase. ATF staffing cuts make enforcement of even upheld rules harder.
The bump stock ban was implemented after the 2017 Las Vegas massacre, where a gunman using bump-stock-equipped rifles killed 60 people and wounded 413. Bump stocks allow semi-automatic rifles to fire at rates approaching automatic weapons. The Supreme Court struck down the ban in 2024 — in a case the Trump DOJ had declined to vigorously defend — and no replacement regulation was pursued.
• 45,000+ ghost guns recovered at crime scenes (2016-2021)
• A 1,000% increase in ghost gun recoveries
• ATF enforcement staff cut — fewer agents to enforce the rule
• NPR: ghost guns 'may make a comeback' despite the ruling
• Administration exploring ways to weaken enforcement
A rule is only as strong as the agency enforcing it — and ATF is being gutted.
• 60 killed, 413 wounded — deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history
• Shooter used bump-stock-equipped rifles
• Bump stocks allow semi-automatic weapons to fire at near-automatic rates
• Trump's first-term ATF banned them
• Supreme Court struck down the ban in 2024
• No replacement regulation pursued
• Enforcement staff cut through DOGE and hiring freezes
• Enhanced background checks for gun shows halted
• Stabilizing brace rule withdrawn (converts pistols to rifles)
• Red flag laws — administration signaled opposition
The agency responsible for firearms enforcement has fewer people doing less work while gun violence kills 45,000 per year.
From 20%
to Less Than 1%
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was created after the 2008 financial crisis to protect ordinary Americans from predatory lending, credit reporting errors, and financial fraud. Under Trump, complaint resolution dropped from 20% to less than 1%. 2.7 million complaints went unresolved.
Acting CFPB Director Russell Vought attempted to shut the bureau down entirely. A federal judge blocked the shutdown, finding Vought's legal interpretation "faulty." But the damage was done through attrition and inaction: the CFPB dropped lawsuits against Capital One and Rocket Homes, froze investigations into Meta, Carvana, Mr. Cooper, and CareCredit, and stopped enforcing consumer protections that had returned billions to Americans.
The most visible impact: credit reporting. Experian's complaint resolution rate dropped from 20% in 2024 to less than 1% in 2026. If your credit report has an error — and millions do — you now have essentially no federal recourse. Consumer advocates estimate the collapse costs Americans $19 billion.
• Complaint resolution: 20% → less than 1%
• 2.7 million credit reporting complaints without relief
• Dropped lawsuits against Capital One and Rocket Homes
• Froze investigations into Meta, Carvana, Mr. Cooper, CareCredit
• Acting Director tried to shut it down entirely
• Judge blocked shutdown: called his reasoning 'faulty'
• Credit errors go unfixed — affecting mortgage approvals, job applications, apartment rentals
• Predatory lending practices unchecked
• Student loan servicers face no oversight
• Bank fees and hidden charges go unregulated
• Payday lenders and debt collectors face no accountability
Consumer advocates estimate the collapse costs Americans $19 billion.
Food assistance. Gun safety. Consumer protection. These systems existed because markets alone don't protect the vulnerable. They were cut, gutted, and paralyzed — not because they didn't work, but because they cost the industries that lobbied against them.