Political power play poses a risk to consumer safety

Two weeks ago, and two days after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the president can fire three members of the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) without cause, I received an alert from the federal agency via Amazon.

The Frigidaire minifridge, plugged into my teenager’s bedroom, may have internal electrical components that could short-circuit and ignite the plastic housing. The resulting fire and burn hazards had already caused more than $700,000 in property damage to other consumers.

Curtis International, the Canada-based importer of the product, which is manufactured in China, had received reports of the minifridges smoking, sparking, burning, melting, overheating and catching fire. At least two consumers reported smoke inhalation injuries.

As a result, more than 600,000 units