On orders from Project 2025 author, almost all work at agency created to protect Americans from corporate bad actors has ceased
For Immediate Release:
February 10, 2025
Contact
Robert Mayo
hello@woodstockinst.org | (312) 368-0310 x 2024
WASHINGTON – Russell Vought, Acting Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and co-author of Project 2025, has moved to defund the CFPB and has directed all its employees to stop performing “any work tasks” despite laws mandating the Bureau to enforce consumer financial protection laws. The CFPB, created in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, exists to protect everyday Americans from abusive financial practices and has returned over $21 billion to consumers harmed by corporations and financial institutions since its founding.
“These actions tell corporations and large financial institutions that nobody will be watching over their shoulders to make sure they don’t defraud consumers. With no federal watchdog in place to hold corporate America accountable, bad actors will go back to the days of ignoring consumer protection laws, including by price-gouging working families at a time when consumers across the political spectrum are concerned about the rising cost of living, or by causing another subprime credit crisis where taxpayers will have to bail out the lenders. And as always, those most affected will be lower-income Americans already struggling to make ends meet,” said Horacio Mendez, President & CEO of Woodstock Institute.
While the CFPB’s crackdowns on the financial sector have long made it a target of Wall Street and their allies in Congress, efforts to defund and defang the agency have repeatedly failed, including in the Supreme Court. Yet in accordance with Project 2025’s call to shut down the CFPB, the Trump Administration has now circumvented Congress and given Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) unprecedented power to shut down entire government agencies. Musk tweeted “CFPB RIP” on Friday, February 7.
Polling consistently shows that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s work is very popular among the electorate, including both Republicans and Democrats. Under previous CFPB Director Rohit Chopra, (who was fired by President Trump last week), the agency moved to clamp down on junk fees, including capping excessive overdraft and credit card late fees. Additionally, a rule to wipe medical debt from credit reports would have directly impacted 15 million Americans. By enforcing the “rules of the road,” the CFPB has leveled the playing field for responsible companies trying to do right by consumers.
Pro-consumer forces have mobilized to defend the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The National Treasury Employees Union, which represents CFPB staff, has sued Vought over his shutdown of the agency and DOGE’s access to sensitive data. In Illinois, discussions to create a state-level CFPB to protect Illinois residents are ongoing. A rally to defend the CFPB is taking place today at the agency’s building in Washington, DC at 1700 G St NW.
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