Congressional watchdog agency will investigate Trump’s hollowing out of CFPB
CNN
A congressional watchdog agency is investigating President Donald Trump’s efforts to dismantle the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, CNN has learned, responding to Senate Democrats who are also demanding that the agency’s Trump-appointed acting director turn over information about how the bureau can meet its statutory obligations amid attempts to lay off nearly 90% of its staff.
A congressional watchdog agency is investigating President Donald Trump’s efforts to dismantle the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, CNN has learned, responding to Senate Democrats who are also demanding that the agency’s Trump-appointed acting director turn over information about how the bureau can meet its statutory obligations amid attempts to lay off nearly 90% of its staff. Courts have also pushed back on the move, and an appeals court said Monday the administration could not engage in any mass layoffs at the bureau while it takes a closer look at a lawsuit challenging Trump’s efforts to dismantle it. The CFPB was created by Congress in 2010 in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. It offers various mechanisms for consumers to seek help in addressing predatory or fraudulent business practices, while conducting oversight of the financial services industry. The bureau has long been in the crosshairs of Republicans, who argue it’s exceeded its congressional mandate and that it replicates regulatory work already being done by other federal agencies. Trump promised to dismantle it from the 2024 campaign trail. Earlier this month, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren – who spearheaded the agency’s creation and is now the top Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee – joined New Jersey Sen. Andy Kim in asking the US Government Accountability Office to probe the administration’s hobbling of the agency. The GAO, according to a letter obtained by CNN, has indicated it is moving forward with that review. In the meantime, 40 Senate Democrats have asked acting Director Russ Vought to provide a “detailed accounting” of how the agency will carry out the more 80 tasks assigned to it by Congress given his plans for a barebones staff.
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