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E-bikes with lithium batteries that overheat and catch fire. A scooter with a bad weld line that might break apart when you're riding it. Scented "Lilo and Stitch" highlighter markers that contain toxic phthalates.

These are just a few of the recent recalls issued by the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the independent federal agency that has protected Americans from shoddy or hazardous retail goods — everything from baby cribs to refrigerators to toys — for more than 50 years.

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It should not come as a surprise that the agency is in the gunsights of the Trump administration, as is the similarly named Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which looks after consumers in the financial market. However, no matter how unsurprising the moves against these two agencies might seem, coming from a president who is eviscerating watchdogs and gutting independent agencies right and left, they are a cause for deep alarm: More than just cost-cutting or eliminating red tape, targeting these agencies is another step to redefining the relationship between the American people and their government.

The product safety commission was designed by Congress to be out of the........

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