2020 Year in Review Making a Difference, From a Distance
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2020 Year in Review
Making a Difference, From a Distance
T his was a year like no other.
The COVID-19 pandemic has
impacted countless lives — hun-
have access to the financial
support they need, not just
large companies.
dreds of thousands have died Amid the COVID-19 pan-
in the U.S. alone, many more demic, mail-in voting and the
have been infected, and tens of ability to cast secure ballots
millions have lost their jobs. A became more important than
pandemic is a pan-human prob- ever. The November 2020 elec-
lem, but we’ve learned this year tion saw historic levels of mail-
that challenges are not evenly in voting, thanks in part to our
distributed. Buffeted from cri- work. Throughout the year, the
sis to crisis, we were forced to Trump administration worked
absorb sobering lessons about relentlessly to undermine the
the ways in which a public health U.S. Postal Service and made
challenge intersects with and baseless claims about wide-
magnifies racial and economic spread voter fraud.
disparities. It faced stiff legal challenge
In 2020, we worked across when Public Citizen and the
a number of fronts to hold the NAACP Legal Defense and
government accountable for Educational Fund, Inc. filed
its historic mishandling of the a lawsuit in August on behalf
COVID-19 crisis and remedy of the National Association for
its failures. We filed a number the Advancement of Colored
of lawsuits against the Trump People.
administration, advocated We argued that USPS imple-
for policies protecting essen- mented changes in violation
tial workers, worked to ensure Above: Public Citizen President Robert Weissman speaks to the crowd of protesters of federal law and led to wide-
in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 5, 2020, the day the U.S. Senate voted against convicting
the integrity of our democracy, President Donald Trump. The rally was one of many “reject the cover-up” rallies held spread disruptions in mail
published analyses of how the across the country to protest the Senate vote. Photo courtesy of Zach Stone. delivery that jeopardized the
Below: On Aug. 5, local artists along with Public Citizen, Declaration for American
administration has consistently Democracy and the Center for Popular Democracy installed life-sized, interactive mock delivery of mail-in ballots in
prioritized profits over people, voting booths around Washington, D.C., to draw attention to the U.S. Senate’s failure time for the election. Our law-
to allocate funding for safe elections in its coronavirus relief bill. Photo courtesy of the
and pushed for policies that Center for Popular Democracy. suit helped prevent a mail-in
reject corporate, monopoly con- ballot catastrophe.
trol over coronavirus vaccines As the pandemic raged on,
and therapies. the climate crisis continued to
COVID-19 disrupted our work worsen. The summer of 2020
and quickly forced us to adapt set record high temperatures
to new circumstances and move and record numbers of days
most of our advocacy online. at extreme high temperatures.
Instead of holding public ral- Wildfires ravaged the West Coat
lies and petition deliveries, we and hurricanes devastated the
pushed for our priorities digitally Gulf Coast. Essential workers
and held webinars, conferences, planting and harvesting our
and even a gala virtually. food continued to work in con-
We kept the pressure on gov- ditions of extreme heat, which
ernment agencies and politi- prompted Public Citizen to call
cians who sidelined science and on the U.S. Occupational Safety
pursued a wide range of policy and Health Administration to
objectives in response to the finally implement a federal
novel coronavirus crisis. heat stress standard.
These included: guaranteed In these difficult and dan-
health care for all Americans gerous times, together we have
who need it; immediate and managed to accomplish more
comprehensive funding for vote- than seemed possible. Now, as
by-mail measures; more robust we prepare to turn the page on
state and local testing and trac- one of the most difficult chap-
ing programs; ensuring that pat- ters in American history, we
ent and other monopoly claims are excited about what we can
on COVID-19 vaccines and ther- do, not just to reverse the dam-
apies did not hinder universal age of the Trump years, but to
access; and use of bailout fund- catapult forward our work for
ing to ensure that all Americans justice and democracy.
PUBLIC CITIZEN NEWS JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2021 5
DEMOCRACY
Public Citizen helped coordinate a socially distanced drive-in action
in Fairfax, Va., on May 9 to call on Congress to fund elections so that
states could make safe and secure voting options available in Novem-
ber. Photo courtesy of Geoffrey Green.
2020 was among the most PROTECTING THE 2020 ELECTIONS and our staff helped troubleshoot voting sys-
tem problems that could have prevented peo-
challenging years for
When Public Citizen helped win $425 million ple from voting or delayed the vote count in
American democracy. Amid a global Georgia, Wisconsin, and Missouri.
in election security funding in December 2019,
pandemic, we worked to protect we never imagined the funding would be a life- Ahead of the January 2021 Georgia U.S.
Senate runoff, we ran phone banks six days
democracy against a president actively saver in other ways. The COVID-19 pandemic
hit communities just as the early presidential a week with People’s Action and held weekly
undermining democratic norms and celebrity phone banks with Alyssa Milano,
primaries started. This election security fund-
working to suppress the votes of millions. ing was the only additional money available Debra Messing, Anjelika Washington, Rob
Reiner, and Dolores Huerta to encourage vot-
We fought for and won hundreds of in early states as election costs skyrocketed
and local funding cratered. The funding cov- ers of color to vote. As we did with our key state
millions of dollars in election funding, campus program, we worked with professors
ered personal protective equipment, printing,
built up a campus program in key swing postage, staffing, and poll worker hazard pay across Georgia to recruit dozens of interns, pri-
marily students of color, who made more than
states, helped organize major national to run massively expanded vote by mail and
early voting programs. The funding saved local half a million calls to Georgia voters of color.
voter engagement days, recruited more Long anxious about how Trump might
elections from disarray and made elections less
than 1,000 poll workers and prepared risky for COVID transmission. undermine a fair election, we joined the
steering committee for Protect the Results, a
to protest should Trump refuse to leave When Congress passed an additional $400
million for elections in May, Public Citizen national grassroots coalition focused on mobi-
office at the end of his term. lizing peaceful protests in the streets should
drove the message that this was an inadequate
amount to help election officials in over 10,000 Donald Trump refuse to leave office.
11 YEARS AFTER CITIZENS UNITED local election jurisdictions. Our team led the
Protect Our Vote campaign to pressure key VOTING RIGHTS ACT ANNIVERSARY
Momentum around getting money out senators to support the passage of additional
of politics continues to grow, and in funding to safely ramp up vote-by-mail and On Aug. 6, the 55th anniversary of the Voting
November we reached another milestone. early voting. Rights Act, Public Citizen partnered with the
Alaska passed a ballot measure, making In addition to lobbying, we spoke to nearly Leadership Conference on Civil and Human
it the 21st state to call for an amendment 1,000 local election officials about their fund- Rights to host virtual rallies and in-person
to overturn the U.S. Supreme Court’s ing needs and election security best practices, actions calling on Congress to fund our elec-
disastrous Citizens United decision, get generating calls and letters from local election tions. Half a dozen events took place in key
money out of politics, and restore elections official associations asking Congress for fund- states, including Colorado, Arizona, Florida,
to the people. ing. In May, we worked with state and local Alabama, and Texas and 120,000 people
partners and activists to organize socially dis- viewed a national virtual rally.
More than 5 million petition signatures tanced drive-in actions. The initiative garnered The “Vote For Our Lives” virtual rally fea-
have been gathered nationwide calling coverage in 15 broadcast outlets. tured House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.),
for an amendment. The Supreme Court Rev. William Barber II, co-chair of the Poor
ruling, which reaches its 11-year mark this VOTER EDUCATION People’s Campaign, and labor organizer and co-
January, allowed unlimited money from founder of the United Farm Workers Dolores
wealthy and corporate donors to flood The pandemic brought a surge of confusion Huerta, who tied issues of voting safely dur-
elections. With Alaska joining the national about where and how to safely vote. We redou- ing the pandemic with racial justice. More than
movement to support overturning Citizens bled our efforts to make vote by mail available 500,000 viewed the livestream on Facebook.
United, however, limiting corporate to voters and we worked to help voters meet Seven years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court
influence on federal lawmakers is within absentee application deadlines. decision Shelby vs. Holder gutted voting rights
arm’s reach. We collaborated with four coalitions on a protections that had been secured for nearly
weekly voter education messaging program half a decade before in the passage of the Voting
Public Citizen’s efforts to end the big for our collective grassroots supporters and Rights Act. The results are clear: Widespread
money dominance of our elections goes helped mobilize dozens of organizations to voter suppression has taken hold in the form of
beyond our Citizens United constitutional participate in National Days for Poll Worker voter purges, longer lines, closed polling loca-
amendment work. We also continue to Recruitment, Request Your Ballot, and Voter tions, and discriminatory voter ID and absen-
lead the grassroots effort to pass the For Registration. We launched “October Voter” tee voting laws. On this important anniversary,
the People Act (H.R.1), a historic piece of Day to encourage people to vote early as well Public Citizen called on Congress to pass the
legislation that includes sweeping reforms as a late October Early Voting Day of Action. John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act
for campaign finance, voting rights, We built a robust campus voter education to honor the late Rep. John Lewis’s legacy and
election security, and congressional and program in 10 target states facing the most reinstate the full federal protections Americans
executive ethics. competitive races for president or U.S. Senate had for decades at the polls.
6 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2021 PUBLIC CITIZEN NEWS
GOVERNMENT REFORM
Hundreds of protesters “silently swarm” the Hart Senate Office Building in
Washington, D.C., on Jan. 20, 2020, to let senators know that #WeWantWit-
nesses at the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump. Photo courtesy
of Eric Kopp.
F rom bailout transparency to blocking corporate immunity to watchdogging big tech, Public Citizen had a busy year fighting
to hold big corporations accountable.
PANDEMIC RELIEF TRANSPARENCY lawsuits, which has yet to materialize. We
also showed how the health and safety
guidelines from the Centers for Disease
EXPOSED: PROFITS OVER PEOPLE
Republicans in Congress resisted the
inclusion of any oversight provisions in Control and Prevention required almost
Public Citizen’s researchers and policy experts
the CARES Act. So following passage of nothing of businesses when it comes to
repeatedly caught the Trump administration,
the $2.3 trillion coronavirus relief pack- protecting workers and consumers.
conservative lawmakers, and big corporations
age in March, Public Citizen led the fight Public Citizen organized and partici-
putting profits over people, especially during the
to make corporate bailout funds more pated in several telephone press confer-
pandemic. Our reports exposed a range of nefarious
transparent. ences with both allies and members of
schemes:
In April, responding to pressure from Congress opposing the liability shield.
Public Citizen and its allies, the Federal We produced a daily corporate immunity
• The Trump administration was eager to take
Reserve decided to disclose the names of bulletin for reporters and allies fighting
advantage of the pandemic and ram through
the companies and terms for recipients of against corporate immunity and orga-
deregulatory policies while the rest of the
the $4 trillion in loans authorized by the nized numerous coalition sign-on letters
country was distracted. Public Citizen co-chairs
CARES Act. in opposition to the proposal. In the end,
the Coalition for Sensible Safeguards, which
We also called out U.S. Treasury we held the line against corporate immu-
hosted an online tool tracking dozens of these
Secretary Steven Mnuchin for keep- nity, kept congressional Democrats in
corrupt regulatory rollbacks – which continued
ing secret the names of businesses that both chambers united in their opposition,
throughout the lame duck session. In addition,
received more than $500 billion in bailout and defeated the measure.
the coalition and progressive research firm
funds through the Paycheck Protection Data for Progress collaborated on the release
Program. And in July, we demanded an BIG TECH of a poll showing strong bipartisan support for
ethics investigation into former Trump strengthening our system of public protections.
officials using their connections to lobby In 2020, Public Citizen stepped up our • It was shocking how quickly corporations
for bailout funds, government contracts, work to hold Big Tech companies account- retreated from pledges of “we’re all in this
and other policy favors related to the gov- able, laying the groundwork for policy- together.” Over the summer, Public Citizen
ernment’s pandemic response. makers to ramp up the pressure on them released a report documenting a pattern of
Coalitions led by Public Citizen called in 2021 and beyond. A Public Citizen report price gouging by Amazon, despite its repeated
on Congress to condition any additional found that workplace coronavirus tracing pledges to put an end to the practice. We caught
coronavirus-related corporate bailout apps systematically violate privacy, and Amazon jacking up prices on face masks, toilet
money on strict executive compensa- we drew regulators’ attention to a report paper, antibacterial soap, and other essential
tion limits, including banning stock buy- by one of our allies that found that many goods by up to 1,000%. In a separate report
backs and capping executive salaries, and popular dating apps do as well. (see page 1), Public Citizen found that Amazon,
backed legislation to increase accountabil- When Big Tech CEOs were called to Walmart, and other big retailers cut hazard
ity and transparency of pandemic-related testify before Congress, Public Citizen pay and pandemic-related bonuses for their
stimulus spending. highlighted their evasive, nonresponsive essential workers by mid-summer, despite
answers on social media — illustrating why record profits.
BLOCKED CORPORATE IMMUNITY companies like Apple, Amazon, Facebook, • A Public Citizen report published in July found
and Google need to be broken up. Public that a decade after passage of the 2010 Dodd-
In negotiations over a second pandemic Citizen also applauded the work of dozens Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer
relief package, which finally passed in late of state attorneys general in both parties Protection Act, corporate executives are still
December, U.S. Senate Majority Leader who filed antitrust lawsuits late in the year freely enriching their salaries through fraud,
Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) insisted on the against Facebook and Google for anticom- profiteering, and cost-cutting on safety.
inclusion of a measure giving businesses, petitive tactics. Meanwhile, the decades-long stagnation in
schools, and hospitals a five-year liability Public Citizen also supported the work worker wages and the decimation of unions is
shield from coronavirus-related lawsuits of lawmakers on the U.S House Antitrust making wealth inequality untenable, especially
brought by workers, consumers, and Subcommittee, who released a report of during the pandemic. One of the key rules
patients. Public Citizen played a leading their findings and recommendations after mandated under Dodd-Frank addressing
role in keeping this odious provision out a yearlong investigation into tech monop- unbridled senior banker pay has remained
of the final bill. olies. We and our allies will push lawmak- unimplemented – nine years after the deadline
We published a report documenting ers and federal antitrust enforcers to act Congress set – thanks to lobbying from the
the history of false claims by the U.S. on the report’s recommendations in the banking industry.
Chamber of Commerce about a flood of year ahead.
PUBLIC CITIZEN NEWS JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2021 7
CONSUMER HEALTH & SAFETY
On Oct. 21, Public Citizen and activist allies led a march/
funk rally outside the United States Botanic Garden to tell the
Trump administration that a COVID-19 vaccine must be safe,
proven, and freely accessible to everybody. Photo courtesy
of Zain Rizvi.
E ver scornful of science, President Donald Trump dismissed early warnings from experts about the coronavirus’ lethal
spread. As other nations ramped up testing and tracing, disseminated personal protective equipment, and imposed strict
lockdowns, Trump sat idly by. His failure to act has cost hundreds of thousands of lives and paved the way to an economic
fallout. In this plague year, the administration’s bumbling response has further exposed the weakness and corruption of
the American health care system and the inability of the federal government to provide comprehensive and equitable relief
measures to protect the lives and livelihoods of Americans.
ENSURING A VACCINE FOR ALL Manufacturing Act, announced in April, which
requires the government to produce protec-
PROTECTING AMERICANS tive equipment and build vaccine platforms.
We are leading a global movement to demand
everyone have access to a coronavirus vac- And we helped negotiate House progressives’
• In June, Public Citizen issued a report
cine. In February, we published a report point- public pharma principles: no exclusivity, stop
to the FDA regarding its dangerously
ing out that health experts foresaw a novel profiteering, and full transparency. With U.S.
lax regulatory oversight of high-risk
coronavirus. Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) we helped design
implanted spinal cord stimulators for pain
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) bills to ensure vaccines are reasonably priced
relief that has resulted in unnecessary
spent $700 million on coronavirus research. and with U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas),
harm to patients. Most troubling, Public
Big Pharma, however, ignored the warn- we worked to mandate disclosure of the gov-
Citizen’s report documented that since
ings. Instead, it erected significant barriers ernment funding role in COVID-19 vaccine
2001, the FDA improperly approved
to ensuring people everywhere have access and drug development.
several high-risk Class III totally
to tests, treatments, protective equipment, Our experts and positions were regularly
implanted spinal cord stimulators for pain
and vaccines against COVID-19. Our report covered in all the major media, from the New
relief based on clinical data obtained only
showed how pharmaceutical corporations are York Times and Washington Post and beyond.
from literature reviews of seriously flawed
seeking patents and legal monopolies on coro- When Operation Warp Speed leaked its first
studies of other spinal cord stimulator
navirus medications, which will limit supplies five vaccine picks in June, we published a
devices, not studies of the actual devices
and drive up prices. report the next morning showing that all five
for which approval was being sought.
We also organized a strategic response were built on public science and underscored
The report also documented evidence
built on replacing profit maximizing with the need for the technology to be shared in the
of substantial harm associated with the
affordability, and vaccine rationing with tech- widest way possible.
use of spinal cord stimulators for pain
nology sharing. We called on the federal gov- In October, we sued the U.S. Department of
relief. These findings led Public Citizen to
ernment to force pharmaceutical corporations Health and Human Services (HHS) to compel
urge Congress to conduct long-overdue
to share medical technology with the world so disclosure of coronavirus vaccine develop-
oversight hearings and draft legislation
that vaccines can be widely manufactured at ment and manufacturing contracts with major
to strengthen the FDA’s oversight of
an affordable price. And we helped draft and pharmaceutical corporations worth billions of
medical devices.
organize a letter to Trump from 45 members of dollars.
• In July, Public Citizen requested that
HHS publicly announce that the FDA will Congress, insisting on fair price guarantees for
not permit, and the NIH will not support, COVID-19 medicines. U.S. Secretary of Health COVID-19 TREATMENTS
any clinical trials during which human and Human Services Alex Azar refused, at
subjects would be intentionally infected first, to guarantee affordability. We mobilized When the U.S. Food and Drug Administration
with the novel coronavirus causing the public outrage and led an aggressive lobbying (FDA) in early March granted COVID-19 treat-
coronavirus disease. The FDA responded effort by a coalition of 70 civil society groups ment remdesivir a special orphan drug sta-
to the request noting Public Citizen’s that ultimately forced Azar to backtrack and tus intended for medications that treat rare
concerns but said that if needed, “the use commit to affordability of any vaccine. diseases, Public Citizen took note. The status
of a controlled human infection model In mid-March, we organized an “access would have set up remdesivir’s manufacturer
to obtain evidence to support vaccine movement” in which 500 experts from around Gilead Sciences to receive additional federal
efficacy may be considered.” the world collaborated with one another via tax credits in the U.S. and a bonus lucrative
• On Medicare’s 55th anniversary, Public our listserv. Partnerships are still blooming, seven-year market exclusivity, allowing
Citizen hosted a telepresser with U.S. and important initiatives continue to launch. Gilead to exclude generic and more affordable
Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), where We negotiated principles for global access, competition while charging high monopoly
speakers shared personal stories of innovation and cooperation that challenged prices once the drug was approved.
how they, their patients, employees, and narratives of nationalism and scarcity. More Public Citizen and nearly 50 civil society
communities of color have been harmed than 250 organizations signed on. groups sent a letter to Daniel O’Day, chairman
by the privatized health care system amid We are also developing legislative solu- and CEO of Gilead, demanding that one of the
the worst pandemic in a century. tions. We helped craft U.S. Sen. Elizabeth most profitable pharmaceutical corporations
Warren’s (D-Mass.) COVID-19 Emergency renounce its claim to the lucrative “orphan
8 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2021 PUBLIC CITIZEN NEWS
The Trump Death Clock circled through Washington, D.C., amid July Fourth celebra-
tions, reminding Americans that President Donald Trump’s reckless and delayed re-
sponse to the coronavirus pandemic caused more than 77,000 unnecessary deaths.
Photo courtesy of Liz Gorman.
drug” designation for remdesivir. On March 25, make, use, or sell the technology without the local and state government officials from at least
Gilead backed down and relinquished its gov- consent of Moderna, potentially increasing pro- six states insisting the government use its execu-
ernment-sanctioned monopoly guarantee for duction of the vaccine beyond Moderna’s capa- tive authority to authorize generic competition
the COVID-19 treatment. bilities and increasing vaccine access globally. and mandate widespread manufacturing for
In August, we reached out to Gilead again as In December, Moderna submitted an forthcoming COVID-19 treatments and vaccines,
well as to senior federal health officials to urge Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) request as well as urgent medicines needed in communi-
them to pursue a potentially promising coro- for its COVID-19 vaccine candidate to the FDA. ties, like naloxone and insulin.
navirus treatment: GS-441524. We noted that Dr. Sidney Wolfe, founder and senior adviser at Following the protest, Trump signed a
based on public evidence, the treatment may Public Citizen’s Health Research Group, testi- lackluster executive order that included a
offer significant advantages over the closely fied before an FDA advisory committee that was “most favored nation” regulation similar to
related antiviral remdesivir, and that the gov- convened to consider both vaccines. the International Price Index model previ-
ernment and Gilead had not pursued this treat- Public Citizen agreed with the need for an ously proposed by the administration, which
ment for several months. EUA for the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vac- was intended to bring prices of some drugs for
It was unclear why Gilead and federal scien- cine, citing available evidence to the FDA and a Medicare Part B more closely in line with those
tists had not pursued GS-441524 as aggressively worsening of the pandemic, but argued that for paid by other high-income countries.
as remdesivir, but the answer may be found in ethical reasons subjects in the placebo group for
the corporation’s patent holdings. Gilead holds the ongoing clinical trial of the vaccine should GOVERNMENT-FUNDED DRUGS
patents on both agents, but the earliest patent be offered the opportunity to receive the active
approval date on remdesivir is 2015, whereas the vaccine and continue to be followed in the trial Also in July, Public Citizen sent a letter to
earliest on GS-441524 is 2010. As a result, the for long-term safety and efficacy assessments. the Biomedical Advanced Research and
corporation’s monopoly over remdesivir may Public Citizen also agreed with the need Development Authority (BARDA) demanding
last five years longer than that for GS-441524, for an EUA for the Moderna-NIH vaccine, but that they enforce a little-noticed transparency
allowing Gilead to make substantially greater argued that the fact sheet for recipients of the provision in their contract with Moderna. The
profits from the sale of remdesivir as a COVID- vaccine should advise them to continue follow- provision requires Moderna to publicly disclose
19 treatment. ing public health guidelines for wearing masks information about how its vaccine candidate
Public Citizen asked Gilead and the govern- and other personal protective equipment and was funded.
ment to work collaboratively to promptly pursue for social distancing to prevent transmission of For most of 2020, Public Citizen urged BARDA
the development of GS-441524 as a treatment the coronavirus. to publish the contracts it has with pharmaceuti-
for COVID-19. Days later, the NIH responded to On Dec. 22, Public Citizen wrote a letter to cal companies for drugs that have been devel-
Public Citizen and agreed with our findings; it senior FDA and NIH officials urging them to oped with taxpayer funds. We also compiled a
said it would expeditiously conduct preclinical promptly update the FDA-approved Pfizer- BARDA funding tracker documenting the $6 bil-
studies of GS-441524 as a potential treatment for BioNTech and Moderna-NIH COVID-19 vaccine lion in taxpayer-funded grants that have gone to
COVID-19 and make the results readily available fact sheets to include statements advising vac- individual pharmaceutical companies.
to the scientific community. cine recipients to continue to follow the proven The top recipients for the grants include
public health measures of mask wearing and Moderna, which received $483 million to man-
MODERNA’S COVID-19 VACCINE social distancing. ufacture a vaccine jointly developed by federal
scientists. The largest single award, for $1.6 bil-
Public Citizen in 2020 also discovered that the DRUG PRICING lion, went to Novavax, a little-known Maryland
U.S. government likely co-owns a potential firm.
coronavirus vaccine with another drug manu- In July, Public Citizen, the Action Center on Public Citizen also found that vaccine devel-
facturer, Moderna. Race & the Economy, the Center for Popular opment and administration accounted for more
A June Public Citizen report and additional Democracy, People’s Action, Social Security than 70% of taxpayer dollars (about $4.2 billion)
reporting by Axios found that the NIH played Works, and other groups and lawmakers ral- awarded during the pandemic so far by BARDA,
a critical role in coronavirus research for years lied in front of the U.S. Department of Health compared to 16% for treatments ($946 million)
with federal scientists having helped design and and Human Services (HHS) to demand that the and less than 1% for tests ($44 million).
test mRNA-1273 in partnership with Moderna. Trump administration use its existing author- Gary Disbrow, acting director at BARDA,
The federal government also filed multiple ity to lower drug prices and increase medicine responded to Public Citizen’s letter saying “the
patents covering mRNA-1273 and if the govern- access. contracting officer responsible for the Moderna
ment successfully pursued its patent filings, the The demonstration took place as concerns contract has been in touch with the company
resulting patents would likely confer significant grew about the impact of the COVID-19 pan- and will ensure their compliance with their con-
rights. For example, the government could demic and followed demands from two dozen tractual requirements.”
"What you do gives me hope that there can be positive change in America. We need forces of good to battle what we
have lived through the past four years and I know we will be better next year and the year after that thanks to Public
Citizen."
—Bruce R. Pfaff, Chicago, Ill.
PUBLIC CITIZEN NEWS JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2021 9
JUSTICE
T his year, Public Citizen’s litigators defended consumers’ right to pursue
claims against debt buyers for unfair or abusive debt-collection practices;
challenged a rule that endangers worker safety at swine slaughter plants;
defeated an effort to introduce a loophole in the Clean Water Act’s protection
for rivers, lakes, and oceans; and brought suit to overturn a rule that makes it
harder to fight housing discrimination. We prevailed in a two-year battle with
the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) over access to
data on workplace illness and injuries. And we obtained a preliminary injunction
blocking a rule that drastically increases application fees for immigrants
seeking naturalization, asylum, employment authorization, and humanitarian
protections. We also brought a lawsuit challenging changes made by the United
Graphic courtesy of John Tomac.
States Postal Service that delayed delivery of important mail, including ballots.
ENSURING TIMELY DELIVERY OF MAIL adopted in violation of notice-and-comment
requirements, is arbitrary and capricious, and
• In March and again in December, we
In 2020, timely mail delivery was more essen- violates provisions of the Immigration and
helped secure victories for a consumer
tial than ever, both to enable people to receive Nationality Act.
in a lawsuit brought under the Fair
important mail, such as medications and In October, the U.S. District Court for the
Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA)
checks, and to enable people to vote without District of Columbia granted our motion for
against a debt buyer. In two cases, the
risking their health. a preliminary injunction and put the August
U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Ninth
In July, however, Postmaster General Louis rule on hold. The court’s decision will protect
Circuit and the Eighth Circuit ruled in
DeJoy instituted a variety of changes to USPS immigrants’ ability to seek lawful status and
our favor that debt-buyer companies, the
policies and equipment that slowed delivery become citizens, while we continue to litigate
purpose of which is the collection of debt,
times significantly throughout the country. the case.
are liable under the FDCPA for abusive
Seeking to reverse these changes, Public Our goal is to knock out the unjustified
tactics even when they contract with
Citizen, co-counseling with the NAACP Legal fee increases and fee-waiver restrictions so
other people to contact the consumers.
Defense and Educational Fund, filed a lawsuit that immigrants are not blocked by high fees
• In April, a Minnesota federal court
on behalf of the National Association for the from the opportunity to apply for citizenship,
denied a motion to dismiss filed by the
Advancement of Colored People against USPS. asylum, work permits, and other benefits to
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)
Our suit, filed in the U.S. District Court for which they may be entitled.
in a case challenging the agency’s
“New Swine Inspection System” at hog the District of Columbia, focused on the wide-
slaughter plants. Among other things, spread disruptions in mail delivery caused A WIN FOR WORKERS’ RECORDS
that system eliminates limits on the by the changes that USPS implemented. It
maximum speed at which plants can explained that the changes violated a federal In 2020, we prevailed in a two-year fight with
operate their slaughter lines, and thereby law requiring public notice and a comment OSHA over access to data on workplace fatal-
increases the risk of worker injury. period before USPS could implement changes ity, injury, and illness. In late July, a federal
The court held that United Food and with a substantial nationwide effect on mail court ordered OSHA to produce the data,
Commercial Worker union members, delivery. The suit also alleged that the changes which was submitted to the agency by 237,000
represented by Public Citizen Litigation — made during a worldwide pandemic and in employers.
Group, had standing to challenge the the midst of a presidential election year — In contesting OSHA’s decision to with-
elimination of maximum line speeds, were unreasonable. hold the records, Public Citizen pointed out
that plant workers are within the zone of The judge agreed. In a thorough opinion, that employers are required by law to post
interests of the relevant food safety laws, the court granted our motion for a preliminary the entire Form 300A — which contains the
and that USDA’s refusal to consider the injunction and required USPS to reverse the employer’s latest fatality, illness, and injury
impact of line speed increases on worker policy changes that we challenged. In a series records — in a conspicuous place at their own
safety was based on “circular logic” and of orders leading up to election day, the court worksites and to provide copies at no charge
“internal inconsistency” and lacked a granted our requests that USPS be required to within one business day of a request by any
“rational explanation.” Our motion for employ extraordinary measures to ensure the employee, former employee, employee repre-
summary judgment, asking the court to timely delivery of mailed ballots to the boards sentative, or personal representative.
set aside the rule, is now pending. of elections. This case was an unqualified victory for
• Amid heightened racial tensions and After the general election, we negotiated Public Citizen, workers, and advocates fight-
a global pandemic, Black and Latinx an agreement with USPS for the use of vari- ing for safer, healthier workplaces. Groups like
communities and neighborhoods ous measures and reports to ensure the timely Public Citizen use OSHA’s data to monitor and
continue to suffer from discriminatory delivery of mailed ballots for the Georgia run- report trends in worker injuries and illnesses,
housing policies and lending practices. off elections. hold employers accountable for unsafe work-
The Home Mortgage Disclosure Act places, and push for occupational health and
(HMDA) requires financial institutions FIGHTING HIGH FEES FOR IMMIGRANTS safety reforms.
to publicly report data about mortgages
and other home loans they extend – data Under Trump, the U.S. Department of COURT CLAMPS DOWN ON POLLUTERS
that is key to uncovering and combatting Homeland Security (DHS) has taken a series
housing discrimination and unfair lending of actions targeting immigrants. One set of In April, the U.S. Supreme Court delivered a
practices. In May 2020, however, the DHS changes threatens to put naturalization, stinging rebuke to the Trump administration’s
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau work permits, visas, and asylum out of reach efforts to roll back environmental protections
issued a new HMDA regulation that for many by making applications more costly. in a case called County of Maui v. Hawai'i
dramatically decreases the number of In August, DHS issued a rule requiring Wildlife Fund.
lenders that must report. In July, we immigrants seeking naturalization, asylum, The case was brought by Public Citizen and
filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court employment authorization and humanitarian three other nonprofit groups to challenge the
for the District of Columbia on behalf of protections to pay new and increased fees. county of Maui’s use of wells at a wastewater
the National Community Reinvestment Representing immigrant advocacy groups treatment facility that injected polluted water
Coalition and others, and then moved for Ayuda, CASA de Maryland, and Northwest into groundwater, damaging once-pristine
summary judgment, asking the court to Immigrant Rights Project, Public Citizen coral reefs in Hawai'i.
set aside the rule. promptly challenged the rule. The Supreme Court’s opinion was largely a
Our complaint charges that the rule was victory for our clients — and for clean water.
10 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2021 PUBLIC CITIZEN NEWS
CORPORATE PRESIDENCY PROJECT
A video running on a loop outside the U.S. Department of the
Interior on Feb. 25 sent a clear message: Interior Secretary Da-
vid Bernhardt is too close to the fossil fuel industry to oversee
public lands. Photo courtesy of Zach Stone.
A s a devastating pandemic swept the globe, President Donald Trump’s corporate-dominated administration seized upon
the worst public health crisis in a century as an excuse to grant bailouts, special favors, and environmental rollbacks for
big business. Meanwhile, industry lobbyists with longstanding ties to Trump laughed all the way to the bank.
These developments were not a sur- Friends of the Earth and BailoutWatch,
prise to us at Public Citizen, where we we cataloged the numerous avenues in
have been tracking Trump diligently which the fossil fuel industry received EXPOSING THE SWAMP MONSTER AT TRUMP’S
through our Corporate Presidency proj- assistance from federal efforts under
ect for the length of his term. Trump to sustain the economy through
INTERIOR DEPARTMENT
In the early weeks of the pandemic, the pandemic.
The video running on a loop for eight hours outside the
in April 2020, we published a report that That includes up to $15.2 billion in
Interior Department’s Washington, D.C., headquarters
spotlighted the billionaires, corporate direct economic relief, including at least
had a clear message: Interior Secretary David
executives, and conservative commen- $5.5 billion so far via tax law changes to
Bernhardt is too close to the fossil fuel industry to
tators who were urging the rollback of benefit 70 money-losing dirty energy
oversee public lands. In February 2020, Public Citizen
social distancing recommendations, companies, $828 million in direct, subsi-
created a swamp monster video and displayed it on
despite public health warnings. dized loans to fossil fuel companies and
a giant TV screen parked outside the department as
Lloyd Blankfein, former CEO of up to $9.1 billion in forgivable Paycheck
the Trump administration held a forum about its efforts
Goldman Sachs, said “extreme” mea- Protection Program loans to nearly
to unravel a law mandating thorough environmental
sures to curb the pandemic would 26,000 companies.
impact reviews.
“crush” the “economy, jobs and morale” Plus, the fossil fuel industry was able
and urged that lower-risk people return to reap massive indirect benefits from
A former energy lobbyist, Bernhardt was the epitome
to work soon. Tilman Fertitta, a casino the Federal Reserve’s decision to prop
of the Washington swamp monster. A Public Citizen
owner and the owner of the Houston up financial markets in spring 2020. As
analysis found that former lobbying and legal clients of
Rockets basketball team, complained a result, 56 oil and gas companies were
Bernhardt spent about $30 million lobbying the federal
that his companies were “doing basi- able to issue nearly $100 billion in cor-
government since the start of the Trump administration.
cally no business” and wanted authori- porate debt, a temporary lifeline for the
ties to reopen businesses by mid-April struggling industry.
Another Public Citizen report examined 679 meetings
2020. Dick Kovacevich, former CEO The federal bailout didn’t just assist
that nongovernment groups and corporations had with
and chairman of Wells Fargo, even said companies having a hard time due to the
Bernhardt and five top aides from January 2017 to May
regarding workers under 55, “We’ll pandemic. It artificially propped up oil
2019. That analysis found that 443 meetings, or nearly
gradually bring those people back and and gas companies who were facing dim
two-thirds, were with oil, gas, and coal groups or their
see what happens. Some of them will get prospects — and, in some cases, bank-
lobbyists. The list was so extensive that Bernhardt
sick, some may even die, I don’t know.” ruptcy — even before the pandemic.
needed a handy reference.
The pandemic also provided an Some may not have survived without
opportunity for lobbyists connected to drastic help.
In a fourth report on Interior Department corruption,
Trump to cash in on their connections. Of course, Trump has many close
Public Citizen took a close look at an obscure right-
A Public Citizen report published in July friends and supporters in the oil indus-
wing, pro-fossil fuels ideology that euphemistically
found that at least 40 lobbyists con- try, such as Oklahoma billionaire and
referred to itself as the “Wise Use” movement. This
nected to Trump lobbied on COVID-19 campaign donor Harold Hamm, the
anti-government ideology – that nature is for human
issues or indicated that they had signed founder and executive chairman of
profiteering – was embraced by Trump, who turned
up clients to do so. These lobbyists rep- Continental Resources, Inc. Hamm’s
his administration over to an army of ideologically
resented at least 150 clients on COVID company benefitted from the Fed‘s
extremist staffers who have been longtime opponents
matters, the report found. bond purchases, even though its debt
of conservation, clean energy, and protections for
At just one firm, Brownstein Hyatt was downgraded to junk in March 2020.
clean air and water. The analysis by Public Citizen
Faber Schreck, Trump-connected lob- In an administration run by Trump
identified 17 current or former senior Trump Interior
byists represented at least 45 clients and former corporate lobbyists such
officials involved in the push to privatize and exploit
on COVID issues. The report also found as Interior Secretary David Bernhardt,
lands protected by the federal government. These anti-
that 27 clients of Trump-connected lob- Environmental Protection Agency
government zealots, astroturf front group alumni, and
byists received federal COVID aid, total- Administrator Andrew Wheeler, and
right-wing fringe figures hold extreme views.
ing more than $10.5 billion, consisting Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette,
of $6.3 billion in grants and $4.2 billion bailouts, weakened regulations, and
With officials like William Perry Pendley of the Bureau
in loans. corporate favors were the norm.
of Land Management running the U.S. government
Public Citizen also scrutinized the President-elect Joe Biden’s administra-
in the Trump era, advocates for conservation and
many ways in which corporate inter- tion represents an opportunity to turn
renewable energy didn’t stand a chance.
ests have profited from the pandemic. the page from this dark period in our
Together with partner organizations country’s history.
PUBLIC CITIZEN NEWS JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2021 11
GLOBALIZATION & TRADE
T here is a lot to celebrate about the end of a
presidency marked by racism and xenophobia,
selfish disregard and incompetence that amplified
the horrors of the COVID-19 pandemic, false promises
to working people and record tax breaks for the
wealthiest one percent. While Donald Trump failed
to deliver on his promises to end job offshoring or to
revitalize U.S. manufacturing, his 2016 promises to
do so were powerful because they connected to real
and severe damage that many Americans suffered
from decades of our “trade” policies.
Lori Wallach, director of Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch, testifies
before U.S. House of Representatives lawmakers on March 3 about a
loophole in U.S. trade law that is generating a new flood of unsafe and
counterfeit products. Photo courtesy of Alivia Roberts.
IS 2021 THE YEAR WE RETHINK TRADE? port for American manufacturers, and
(c) specific investments in communities
2020 ACHIEVEMENTS to build up research and manufacturing
President-elect Joe Biden has not historically hubs.”
We called out President Donald Trump’s been a champion for fair trade. But there are two • Opposing “the ability of private cor-
broken promises on trade, including in a reasons to have hope for trade reform during his porations to attack labor, health, and
report revealing that Trump awarded more presidency. environmental policies through the
than $425 billion in federal contracts to First, the outcome of the 2016 election — Investor-State Dispute Settlement
corporations responsible for offshoring which hinged in no small part on Trump’s use (ISDS) process” and opposing “the inclu-
200,000 American jobs during his of the trade issue — was a wake-up call that sion of such provisions in future trade
presidency. Our findings were picked up has shifted the politics of the issue. Second, agreements.”
by The New Yorker, The Washington Post, for Biden to deliver on his most fundamental • Updating the trade rules for Buy American
Politico, and more. non-trade promises to the American people, by working “with allies to modernize
he must create a new approach to trade. Many international trade rules and associated
We spotlighted how the hyperglobalization core elements from Biden’s “Build Back Better” domestic regulations regarding govern-
implemented by the past 25 years of “trade” plan conflict with existing U.S. trade agreements ment procurement to make sure that the
pacts had undermined our resilience in and policies, including those related to major U.S. and allies can use their own taxpayer
the face of the COVID-19 crisis, as our Buy American investments in infrastructure, dollars to spur investment in their own
decimated domestic production capacity climate-related energy policies and standards, countries.”
and brittle global supply chains left expanding access to affordable health care and • “Developing new approaches on supply
Americans without the basic goods needed medicines, and more. chain security — both individually and
to combat the crisis. That’s because the corporate guarantees and collectively — and updating trade rules
constraints on government action that are baked to ensure we have strong understandings
We led a national campaign to insist into current “trade” pacts — and the race-to- with our allies on how to best ensure sup-
on enforcement of the improved labor the-bottom regime of hyperglobalization they ply chain security for all of us.”
standards that congressional Democrats, promote — conflict with Joe Biden’s goals of cre- • Aggressively pushing “for strong and
unions, and groups like Public Citizen ating the good jobs necessary to battle economic enforceable labor provisions in every
forced Trump to make in the revised and social inequalities, ensuring all Americans trade deal my administration negotiates
NAFTA, which went into effect on July 1, have affordable health care and medicines, and — and not sign a deal unless it has those
2020. Our efforts focused on serial abuses averting climate catastrophe. provisions.”
against Susana Prieto Terrazas, a Mexican If Biden fails to deliver and make life better • Banning fossil-fuel subsidies, slapping
labor lawyer who was arrested and held for working Americans, we risk a more self- tariffs on imports that produce high
without bail for three weeks after trying to disciplined, right-wing autocrat winning the amounts of carbon and putting emission
register an independent union to replace presidency next by exploiting many Americans’ reduction commitments into trade deals.
a corrupt “protection” union in Matamoros. anger over offshoring and trade job losses. • Appointing “experts from organized
Over the course of six months, we helped The good news is that Joe Biden will inherit labor and the environmental movement
generate thousands of letters to Congress a policy and political landscape on trade totally to work in trade negotiating and enforce-
about her case (which led to 107 members transformed since the Obama presidency ended. ment positions” and making sure that
of Congress calling for Prieto’s release), Some of the actions taken by Trump’s top trade “labor and environmental advocates are
collected 21,500 petition signatures, held official, Robert Lighthizer, leave the new admin- at the table from day one in future trade
three major online events with the press, istration with considerable leverage on key deals.”
Prieto, and members of Congress, helped issues, such as trade with China and reforming
organize members of Congress to demand the World Trade Organization. Promises are good, but action is even better. One
justice for Prieto, and coordinated protests The new administration must use these early indicator of Biden’s trade policy plans is his
across the country. significant opportunities to reshape U.S. trade nominee for U.S. Trade Representative (USTR)
policy to benefit working people, consumers, — the top U.S. trade official. Biden has selected
We testified at a congressional hearing and the planet’s environmental health. And Katherine Tai for the job, a senior congressional
to explain the loopholes that Amazon and more good news is that President-elect Biden staffer and former USTR lead for China enforce-
other mega retailers use to import defective has made some big promises on addressing our ment whose trade expertise and political smarts
and dangerous products without liability. current, corporate-rigged trade rules, including: is respected across the political spectrum.
And we testified at two International Trade • Imposing a moratorium on “new trade Joe Biden won on a pledge to revive the
Commission hearings, one on supply chain agreements until we have major invest- middle class and protect people and the planet
challenges for COVID-19 related goods ments in American workers, including — our job now is to generate the public pressure
and another on the economic impact of (a) modern, job-creating infrastructure, needed to make these promises a reality. Public
U.S. free trade agreements. (b) widespread investments in education Citizen will keep building momentum to win
and worker training” and “targeted sup- big, progressive trade policy changes in 2021.
12 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2021 PUBLIC CITIZEN NEWS
ENERGY & CLIMATE
Graphic courtesy of Justin Renteria.
2 020 was a year of momentous change. A worsening climate crisis forced people around the world to grapple with extreme
weather events and raging wildfires — all on top of a global pandemic. The intersecting crises of climate, public health, and
inequality have made it increasingly urgent to work towards a healthy, climate resilient world. And that’s just what we did.
UNCOVERING GOLDMAN SACHS DECEPTION Public Citizen has for years petitioned the U.S. pandemic-induced economic crisis, pri-
Occupational Safety and Health Administration marily through the creation of millions of
(OSHA) for a federal heat standard to protect well-paying jobs and the elimination of
From securing a U.S. Supreme Court ruling
American workers from excessive heat exposure, wasteful spending on fossil fuels and the
upholding Clean Water Act protections in April
but to date OSHA has neglected this responsibility. health harms they cause.
(see page 1o) to advancing an ambitious vision of
Excessive heat exposure can cause heatstroke and
equitable climate solutions, we worked on a num-
even death if not treated properly. It also exacer-
ber of fronts to advocate for environmental and
bates other health problems like kidney and heart
climate justice.
In a victory for corporate accountability
disease. PUBLIC CITIZEN PAVES WAY
Given the agency’s silence, we urged employ-
and consumer protection, the Federal Energy
ers — especially those with workers who are regu-
FOR FERC OFFICE OF PUBLIC
Regulatory Commission (FERC) in April issued an
order agreeing with Public Citizen that Goldman
larly exposed to hot conditions — to take measures PARTICIPATION
to protect their workers from heat exhaustion,
Sachs Renewable Power wrongly disclaimed an
including having adequate access to water, rest, In 2020, we worked to democratize
affiliation with The Goldman Sachs Group as part public interest access to regulators
shade, and other essential needs, as well as social
of its bid to sell electric power. and energy policy making and
distancing measures and sick leave policies, which
Back in December 2019, we noticed that in an by the end of the year, our effort
reduce community spread of the virus.
application to sell electricity filed at FERC, a pri- had paid off. We secured a huge
Regarding specific challenges workers face
vate equity shell company calling itself Goldman victory in the COVID/omnibus
from the pandemic, we asked employers to pro-
Sachs Renewable Power claimed that it was not spending legislation that President
vide workers with replacement masks when
affiliated with Wall Street banking titan Goldman Donald Trump finally signed into
theirs became wet with sweat and provide “mask
Sachs. That filing prompted Tyson Slocum, direc- law on Dec. 27. We worked to get
breaks” during which workers stay at least six feet
tor of Public Citizen’s Energy Program, to start language into the accompanying
apart.
digging. appropriations committee report
Goldman Sachs Renewable Power claimed
that it had an independent board but refused to
CLIMATE POLICY PLATFORM that orders FERC to establish
and fund the Office of Public
disclose the names of the board members. After Participation. Among the duties
Preventing climate disaster requires coordinated
researching the boards and identifying the names of this office are to financially
political action at all levels of government. It
of board members, Slocum noted that the same compensate public interest
means transitioning to 100% renewable energy,
three people served on boards of nearly 70 shell advocates for costs associated
replacing internal combustion engines with zero-
companies with ties to Goldman Sachs. Further with intervening at FERC.
emission vehicles, implementing sustainable
digging led to the discovery that all three individu-
agricultural practices, protecting and restoring
als worked for companies based in the Cayman We have led efforts to establish
natural ecosystems, updating building codes and
Islands that provide “directors for hire” to private this office for over a decade,
retrofitting existing buildings — all with the ambi-
equity shell companies for Wall Street. culminating in our 2016 petition to
tious goal of making all of these changes on the
Public Citizen noted that Goldman Sachs exec- FERC that it initiate rulemaking to
timelines that climate science says is necessary
utives ran every aspect of the day-to-day manage- establish the office. While FERC
to avoid catastrophic global warming. And it is
ment of the renewable power company. Public ignored our petition, it cannot
necessary to accomplish all of these things in a
Citizen submitted this and other evidence in a ignore the congressional mandate.
manner that advances racial justice.
series of filings at FERC, which eventually issued
So concluded members of the U.S. Climate
an order agreeing with us that a private equity We are now working with FERC
Action Network (USCAN), a network of more than
shell company created and managed by Goldman commissioners and public interest
175 U.S. organizations in a platform released in
Sachs is affiliated with The Goldman Sachs Group. allies to design the office so
June that Public Citizen spearheaded. Called the
Plugging this loophole prevents Goldman Sachs that it bolsters representation
Vision for Equitable Climate Action, the document
and any other company from rigging the market. of environmental activists and
outlines how to combat the climate crisis while consumer interest participation
simultaneously advancing justice for workers and in FERC proceedings regarding
PROTECTING WORKERS FROM HEAT frontline communities. power market design and natural
The platform outlines the measures necessary gas infrastructure. Providing
Record-breaking temperatures and a global pan- to meet the goal of holding global average temper- funding to public interest
demic made for a challenging year for essential ature rise to 1.5°C. While tackling climate change, advocates will revolutionize the
workers. The need for personal protective equip- the proposals address other systemic issues such ability of grassroots organizations
ment increased heat-related illness risks for essen- as racial injustice, gross economic disparities, the to meaningfully participate in
tial workers, including farm laborers, truck drivers inequity of health care delivery, and the fragil- important energy and climate
and construction workers, as protective clothing ity of our unsustainable food system. They also policy debates going forward.
and masks increase the chances of overheating. offer pathways to economic recovery from the
PUBLIC CITIZEN NEWS JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2021 13
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