As the Administration fights court orders to pay out federal food assistance to 42 million people, stories of desperation abound. With luck, the shutdown will soon put an end to the untold humiliation and stress suffered by 1 in 8 Americans who have lost a critical lifeline. But this political debacle’s public health impacts will … Continued
When I joined the Consumer Federation of America in spring 2020, I quickly plunged into the complex and fast-changing world of auto and homeowners insurance markets, learning quickly about gaps in consumer protection and the many ways we needed to stand up for consumer rights. The problems that have come into focus include extraordinary premium … Continued
Topics in this issue: New Report Demonstrates Mortgage Deserts Exist Nationwide CFA Analysis Shows Insurance CEOs Get 27% Salary and Bonus Bump While Consumers See Premium Hikes and NonRenewals The United States of Amnesia: Forgotten Lessons from the 2008 Financial Crisis The Federal Communications Commission is About to Unleash Unstoppable Robocalls
Back in September, with the shutdown looming, the Trump Administration issued “lapse of funding” plans for the various Executive agencies, including the Department of Agriculture. The plans describe the “essential” operations that will continue during a shutdown. At USDA, those operations included funding the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP. More specifically, they included paying … Continued
The government shutdown – now heading into its fourth week – intensifies nine months of the Trump Administration’s attacks on critical agencies and programs. The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has been among the targets facing deep funding and staffing cuts: the agency has lost nearly 30 percent of staff since January 2025. … Continued
October is National Co-op Month and many may not know that co-ops were part of the original coalition of organizations that came together and established CFA to advocate for the consumer interest. CFA’s member organizations are not only national, state, and local consumer advocacy groups, but also state and local protection agencies, credit unions, rural … Continued
Yes, really. Robocalls are public enemy number one, yet Federal Communications Commission Brendan Carr has boasted an approach of “delete, delete, delete” to the scant regulations that are in place to police the billions of robocalls Americans receive every month. To be sure, the framework for regulating robocalls, texts and unwanted telemarketing solicitations is complicated … Continued
I love Zen Koans. If a tree falls in the woods, does it make a noise? What is the sound of one hand clapping? If no one counts the bodies, did anyone really die? Ok, I made up that last one. But lately, the sentiment seems to guide many of the nation’s top policymakers as … Continued
“Selling cars to the general public has been reduced to a contest of which dealership can effectively lie the best.” –Mike Montalvo, California “I have called no less than 15 dealerships in southern California and not a single dealership has an accurate price listed online. Not a single one. It is usually $10-$15K more than … Continued
“You and your policies are really helping a lot” – Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella “Thank you for being such a pro-business and pro-innovation president…We’re very excited to see what you’re doing to make all of our companies and our entire country so successful” – OpenAI Sam Altman “We’re making it really easy for you…getting you … Continued
By Mary Barrow, CFA Legal Intern The first two installments of this blog series revealed how government policies facilitate rapid data center expansion and how the lack of transparency disproportionately impacts vulnerable communities. This third and final installment examines the tangible and deeply personal harms these communities endure: soaring utility prices, water scarcity, disruptive noise … Continued
The United States is in the middle of a housing affordability crisis. Homebuying is at its lowest level since the mid-1990s and the median first-time homebuyer is now 38 years old: an all-time high. Yet, at this critical time, the nation’s most powerful housing regulator, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), is making it even … Continued
By: Kara Williams (EPIC) and Ben Winters (CFA) Cross-posted on both websites These headlines likely conjure up a picture of some super-intelligent, all-powerful robot capable of solving society’s problems, thinking like a human, and replacing all our existi ng technology in one fell swoop. But if that sounds too good to be … Continued
Topics in this issue… New Report Finds Auto Delinquencies Echo Pre-Recession Red Flags Online Marketplaces Are Fueling an American Product Safety Crisis CFA Releases New Fact Sheets on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Navy Federal Overdraft Complaints Reveal Impact of CFPB Rollback on Military Families
In January 2025, the Federal Insurance Office (FIO) issued a report on rising homeowners insurance costs from 2018 to 2022, based on data collected by FIO and the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. The report found that over this time period, homeowners insurance premiums increased 8.7% faster than inflation, and that some consumers experienced substantially … Continued
On September 18, 2025, Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) Acting Chairman Peter Feldman announced the agency has already exceeded 2024’s record of 369 recalls and warnings, issuing 376 recalls and safety warnings so far in 2025. CFA recognizes and celebrates CPSC’s robust action to protect Americans, but the sobering reality is that these numbers expose … Continued
To beat back efforts to address artificial intelligence (AI) harms, earlier this summer opponents of meaningful regulation attempted to force through a decade-long moratorium on state-level AI regulation. While this effort failed, these opponents still parade around claims that leaving regulation to the states will result in a patchwork of AI regulation dominated by big blue … Continued
The monthly inflation report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) came out this morning, once again confirming what many of us have felt at the register: grocery prices are rising. The latest report is the second inflation release with a dose of uncertainty, following the termination via social media post of BLS Commissioner … Continued
In Part 1 of this series, we examined how federal, state, and local policies are enabling the rapid expansion of data centers across the United States. This second installment dives deeper into how these massive data centers disproportionately impact vulnerable and disenfranchised communities—areas already struggling with limited resources, weakened political power, and diminished capacity to … Continued
For over 50 years The Consumer Federation of America has advanced the consumer interest through research, advocacy, and education. We diligently investigate consumer issues, behavior, and attitudes. We expertly advance pro-consumer policies on a variety of topics. Moreover, we thoughtfully communicate consumer concerns to the public, the media, policymakers and other public interest advocates. We … Continued
On November 7, 2024, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ordered Navy Federal Credit Union (NFCU) to refund more than $80 million to consumers, stop charging illegal overdraft fees, and pay a $15 million civil penalty to the CFPB’s victims’ relief fund. The enforcement action found that NFCU charged customers surprise overdraft fees, even when … Continued
Foodborne illness causes untold suffering. Statistics capture only one part of the story of victims like April Bonham, who lost her baby to Listeria monocytogenes, or Mari Tardiff, who is struggling to walk again after Campylobacter landed her on a ventilator. But reliable statistics, and the foodborne illness surveillance systems that generate them, give us … Continued
By Mary Barrow, CFA Legal Intern Behind data intensive products like artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency are data centers, large buildings that process data and enable large scale computing. The typical data center houses a collection of computers in a windowless warehouse and requires significant water and energy usage to keep the system cool and running. … Continued
View Webinar When Congress gave the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) responsibility for evaluating food ingredients’ safety in 1958, the law provided an exemption from FDA review for substances like vinegar and spices that were “Generally Recognized as Safe.” In the years since, the food industry has increasingly taken responsibility for determining when food … Continued
Topics in this issue… New Issue Brief on the Hidden Cost of Credit Score in Homeowners Insurance Premiums Review of the New MAHA Strategy Report Consumer Advocates Demand Investigation into Elon Musk’s Grok AI Tool Facilitating Illegal Non-Consensual Intimate Imagery Trump Administration’s Attack on the Bureau of Labor Statistics Will Harm Consumer Research