How a Lafufu in a shot glass tells a stark story about the dangers of this moment

It's a serious story about the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, truly. Also: Tuesday at Law Dork, a discussion with California A.G. Rob Bonta.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) on Monday issued an “urgent safety warning to Labubu collectors.”

If you don’t know what a Labubu is, oh, boy, do you have fun in store for you when you search around, but, for our purposes, just know that it’s a collectible that many people covet, leading to a number of fakes (commonly known to as Lafufus).

I laughed at first, especially when I saw the Lafufu in what looked like a shot glass — but then became confused because Labubus are bigger than that.

I saw that this was about “[m]ini versions,” though, and got it. OK, we’re dealing with tiny Lafufus.

Then, I got confused again as I continued reading the caption and saw that the shot glass is actually “the small parts cylinder.” More on that to come.

So, what is the warning?

Now it made sense. Thanks, CPSC.

But, the small parts cylinder got my brain spinning, so I decided to do a little research.

That’s when I learned about the “small parts ban,” care of the CPSC website:

Incredible. The shot glass, aka, small parts cylinder is actually an attempt to prevent children from choking to death on toys. And there is, apparently, a figure!

At that point, I had no choice but to click through to the Code of Federal Regulations:

Then, there it was — the small parts cylinder:

Amazing that the government figured that out.

Tell me more!

Luckily, in the CFR, there is more.

There it was. The Federal Register from June 15, 1979 …

… was the place where the requirements; test, and Figure 1, the small parts cylinder, were all laid out.

The provision was submitted by Sadye Dunn, then-secretary of the CPSC; the rule went into effect on January 1, 1980; and the CPSC has been enforcing it since.

Why am I telling you all of this on a Monday in August?

President Donald Trump purported to fire three of the five CPSC commissioners in May — despite a legal provision only allowing their firing “for neglect of duty or malfeasance in office but for no other cause.”

Although lower courts ruled that Trump had likely violated the law and an injunction was in place keeping the three Democratic commissioners — Mary Boyle, Alexander Hoehn-Saric, and Richard Trumka Jr. — in their roles during litigation, the U.S. Supreme Court’s majority stopped that in its tracks.

Under the Supreme Court’s unsigned order, the three are gone from the CPSC during litigation — and, likely, gone from the CPSC, period. It was a stark order that ignored the law and longstanding precedent and that I criticized harshly at the time because the conservative justices’ action, ultimately, was nothing less than a partnering up with Trump in his lawlessness.

As such, the commission has only left two appointees: Peter Feldman, who is the acting chair, and Douglas Dziak, whose term expired nearly a year ago (on October 27, 2024). Under federal law, not that Trump is otherwise following it, a CPSC commissioner can continue to serve until a replacement is named and confirmed for up to a year after their term expires. So, Feldman could be alone come November.

In the midst of all of that, there’s more.

The CPSC is trying to eliminate itself.

Truly. In addition to requesting that a big chunk of its budget be cut, its budget request stated:

The FY 2026 President’s Budget proposes to reorganize the functions of the Consumer Product Safety Commission and embed it in the HHS Office of the Secretary as the Assistant Secretary for Consumer Product Safety (ASCPS). Contingent upon enactment of authorizing legislation, CPSC accounts will be transferred to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

The CPSC’s position — and Trump’s position — is that HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. should be given more authority for overseeing America’s efforts to keep kids from dying unnecessarily.

The Supreme Court helped that along.

Just think, we almost made it 50 years with an agency that was dedicated to enforcing a rule protecting kids from choking to death on toys.

But Trump fired the majority of the CPSC commissioners, his budget would gut the commission, and he wants to eliminate it altogether and send its “functions” to the deadly secretary of HHS.

Sorry, Sadye.

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Tuesday at Law Dork

Heads up!

At 2:30 p.m. PT/5:30 p.m. ET Tuesday, I will be having a Substack Live chat with California

AG Rob Bonta

! We’ll be discussing the attorney general’s extensive efforts to challenge the Trump administration’s actions, the successes and challenges his office has faced in doing so, and so much more.

Tune in!

And, don’t fret, for those who miss it live, I’ll be posting a video and transcript later.