03-11-2025

National Consumer Protection Week, 2025

ProclamationView the Original .pdf
View the Original .pdf

The 1-Minute Brief

What: A Presidential Proclamation designating March 2 through March 8, 2025, as National Consumer Protection Week. The document highlights the administration's actions aimed at protecting consumers, specifically mentioning efforts to halt regulatory overreach in cryptocurrency and an executive order to ensure transparent pricing in prescription drug advertisements.

Money: The proclamation itself carries no direct financial cost or appropriation. However, the executive orders it references concerning cryptocurrency and prescription drug pricing have significant, though not fully quantified, economic implications for the technology and pharmaceutical sectors.

Your Impact: The proclamation's immediate impact is to encourage public awareness of consumer rights and online safety resources. The policies it promotes could affect individuals who invest in or use cryptocurrencies and patients who rely on prescription medications, through changes in regulation and price transparency.

Status: Proclaimed by the President of the United States on March 6, 2025, and scheduled for publication in the Federal Register.

What's Actually in the Proclamation

This proclamation officially designates a week for focusing on consumer rights and protection. It serves as a statement of the administration's policy priorities, framing recent executive actions as beneficial to American consumers.

Core Provisions:

The proclamation itself does not enact law but references specific executive actions as evidence of its commitment to consumer protection:

  • Halting Cryptocurrency Regulation: The text states the President "took immediate action to halt aggressive regulatory overreach that has stifled the growth of cryptocurrency." This refers to a January 23, 2025, executive order aimed at creating a federal framework to support blockchain technology and digital assets while revoking a previous administration's more precautionary approach.
  • Prescription Drug Price Transparency: It mentions an Executive Order ensuring that advertisements provide accurate information about prescription drug prices. This is part of a broader administration strategy to implement "Most-Favored-Nation" pricing, which aims to tie the cost of drugs in the U.S. to the lower prices paid in other developed nations.

Stated Purpose (from the President):

The proclamation asserts that its goal is to renew the nation's commitment to protecting the American consumer and ensuring a free and prosperous economy.

  1. Uphold the right to privacy and transparency.
  2. Protect Americans' transactions and personal data from fraud and cyber threats.
  3. Ensure consumers receive honest and accurate information to make decisions.

Key Facts:

Affected Sectors: Technology (specifically digital assets and cryptocurrency), Healthcare (pharmaceuticals), and Financial Services.
Timeline: The proclamation designates the week of March 2 through March 8, 2025. The referenced executive orders have their own implementation timelines, with agencies directed to propose regulatory changes within 30 to 180 days of their signing.
Scope: The proclamation is national in scope. The policies mentioned have global implications, particularly concerning international drug pricing and the U.S. position in the digital asset market.

The Backstory: How We Got Here

Timeline of Events:

The Era of Consumer Advocacy (1914-Present):

  • 1914: The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is established to combat unfair business practices and enforce antitrust laws.
  • 1998: The FTC sponsors the first National Consumer Protection Week (NCPW) to educate Americans about their consumer rights. The event has been held annually since, typically in the first full week of March.
  • 2009: The theme for NCPW, "Nuts & Bolts: Tools for Today’s Economy," reflected the growing need for consumer education amidst the rise of online scams.
  • 2020s: The explosion of digital transactions, cryptocurrency markets, and persistently high prescription drug costs have made consumer protection in these areas a central political issue.

Why Now? The Political Calculus:

  • Annual Tradition: The proclamation is part of an annual observance, providing a regular platform for the sitting administration to address consumer issues.
  • Highlighting Key Policy Initiatives: The timing allows the administration to frame its recent, and potentially controversial, executive orders on cryptocurrency and drug prices as clear victories for the average consumer.
  • Economic Pressures: With high inflation and healthcare costs being major public concerns, the administration is using the proclamation to signal action on pocketbook issues.
  • Digital Asset Regulation: The debate over cryptocurrency regulation is at a critical juncture. By revoking a previous executive order and calling for a new framework, the administration is making a definitive statement about its pro-innovation, less regulatory stance.

Your Real-World Impact

The Direct Answer: The proclamation itself is an awareness campaign, but the policies it champions directly affect cryptocurrency users and anyone who pays for prescription drugs.

What Could Change for You:

Potential Benefits:

  • For Crypto Users: The administration's approach could lead to clearer regulations, more innovation, and easier access to banking services for digital asset companies.
  • For Patients: Increased price transparency in drug advertising could help you and your doctor make more informed decisions. The "Most-Favored-Nation" policy, if fully implemented, could lead to significantly lower out-of-pocket costs for certain Medicare and Medicaid recipients.
  • For Savers: Proponents of the GENIUS Act, supported by the administration, argue that creating a federal regulatory system for stablecoins protects consumers by requiring 100% reserve backing with liquid assets.

Possible Disruptions or Costs:

Short-term (1-2 years):

  • Regulatory Uncertainty: The shift in cryptocurrency policy could create short-term uncertainty for investors and businesses as agencies develop a new regulatory framework.
  • Pharmaceutical Industry Pushback: Drug manufacturers have strongly opposed measures like Most-Favored-Nation pricing, arguing it will stifle innovation and lead to less investment in new medicines.

Long-term:

  • Financial Risk: Critics of a lighter-touch approach to crypto regulation argue it could leave consumers more exposed to market volatility, fraud, and scams.
  • Drug Availability: Opponents of the administration's drug pricing policies warn that it could reduce the number of new drugs launched in the U.S. market.

Who's Most Affected:

Primary Groups: Cryptocurrency investors, developers, and exchanges; patients requiring prescription medications, particularly seniors on Medicare; pharmaceutical companies.
Secondary Groups: Banks and financial institutions that provide services to the crypto industry; doctors and hospitals; pharmacy benefit managers.
Regional Impact: There is no specific regional impact; the effects are national.

Bottom Line: This proclamation signals the administration's focus on deregulation in the tech sector and aggressive price controls in healthcare, which could lead to both new opportunities and potential risks for consumers.

Where the Parties Stand

Republican Position: "Promoting Free Markets and Innovation"

Core Stance: Republicans generally advocate for reduced regulation, believing it fosters economic growth and innovation, and have historically sought to reform or limit the power of consumer protection agencies.

Their Arguments:

  • ✓ Support for less "regulatory overreach" in the cryptocurrency space is a core tenet, arguing it allows the U.S. to lead in financial technology.
  • ✓ Applaud efforts to increase price transparency in healthcare as a market-based solution.
  • ⚠️ While supporting lower drug prices, some Republicans express concern that government price-setting, like the Most-Favored-Nation policy, amounts to foreign price controls.
  • ✗ Have historically opposed the structure and broad authority of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), with some platforms calling for its abolishment or restructuring.

Legislative Strategy: Attempting to roll back regulations established by the previous administration through legislative action or by proposing new rules to amend or repeal them.

Democratic Position: "Putting Consumers First, Not Corporations"

Core Stance: Democrats generally favor robust government regulation and strong, independent agencies to protect consumers from corporate abuses.

Their Arguments:

  • ✓ Strongly support measures to lower prescription drug costs, including allowing the government to negotiate prices.
  • ⚠️ Express concern that a lack of stringent regulation in the cryptocurrency market exposes consumers to unnecessary risks and financial instability.
  • ✗ Oppose any efforts to weaken or defund consumer protection agencies like the CFPB or the Consumer Product Safety Commission, viewing such actions as siding with corporate interests over public safety.
  • ✗ Argue that deregulation and "regulatory voids" harm consumers and that a strong federal role is necessary to prevent fraud and abuse.

Legislative Strategy: Pushing for stronger oversight of emerging financial technologies, defending the authority of consumer protection agencies, and introducing legislation to expand consumer rights and safety.

Constitutional Check

The Verdict: ✓ Constitutional

Basis of Authority:

The President's authority to issue proclamations is an inherent executive power derived from Article II of the U.S. Constitution. This power allows the President to issue official statements, commemorate events, and declare special observances.

Article II, Section 1 of the U.S. Constitution: "The executive Power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America."

Constitutional Implications:

[Executive Power]: A presidential proclamation is primarily a ceremonial or policy-setting tool. It does not have the force of law in the way that a statute passed by Congress does. It is a statement of the administration's intent and priorities.
[Precedent]: Presidents have issued proclamations for National Consumer Protection Week for decades, making this a well-established and uncontroversial use of executive power.
[Federalism]: This proclamation does not overstep into powers reserved for the states. However, the executive orders it references, particularly concerning the regulation of financial markets and healthcare, do touch on areas with overlapping state and federal jurisdiction.

Potential Legal Challenges:

The proclamation itself is not subject to legal challenge. However, the executive orders it highlights are vulnerable. The Most-Favored-Nation drug pricing policy, for example, has faced lawsuits from pharmaceutical industry groups arguing that the administration overstepped its statutory authority. Similarly, any new regulations on cryptocurrency will likely be challenged in court by industry or advocacy groups.

Your Action Options

TO SUPPORT THIS ADMINISTRATION'S POLICIES

5-Minute Actions:

  • Call Your Rep/Senators: Capitol Switchboard: (202) 224-3121. "I'm a constituent from [Your City/Town] and I urge [Rep./Sen. Name] to support the administration's efforts to reduce regulation on cryptocurrency and increase drug price transparency."

30-Minute Deep Dive:

  • Write a Detailed Email: Contact members of the House Committee on Financial Services and the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs to support a pro-innovation framework for digital assets.
  • Join an Organization: Consider joining advocacy groups that promote free markets and technological innovation.

TO OPPOSE THIS ADMINISTRATION'S POLICIES

5-Minute Actions:

  • Call Your Rep/Senators: Capitol Switchboard: (202) 224-3121. "I'm a constituent from [Your City/Town] and I urge [Rep./Sen. Name] to push for stronger consumer protections for digital assets and to defend the independence of our consumer protection agencies."

30-Minute Deep Dive:

  • Write a Letter to the Editor: Submit a letter to your local newspaper expressing concern about the risks of deregulating financial markets or the potential impact of the administration's drug pricing policies on medical innovation.
  • Join an Organization: Join consumer advocacy groups like the National Consumers League or Public Citizen that work to strengthen consumer rights and safety regulations.