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Bessent Will Help Dismantle the CFPB

WASHINGTON, D.C. – President Donald Trump today named Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent as acting director of the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). On Friday, Trump removed Rohit Chopra as director. The agency has returned $21 billion to victims of misconduct by the financial services industry. 

Bartlett Naylor, financial policy advocate for Public Citizen, released the following statement:

“An oligarch hedge fund manager serving only rich clients will bring no reasonable instincts to official management of an agency meant to protect vulnerable Americans from predators. There’s every reason to worry he will be little more than a human auto-pen for the thugs intent on dismantling this agency.

“Bessent offered an anodyne comment supposedly respecting the CFPB’s statutory mandate during his Senate confirmation hearing. But the likes of Co-President Elon Musk will undoubtedly attempt to bulldoze critical staff, policies, and enforcement efforts.”

Lisa Gilbert, co-president of Public Citizen, released the following statement:

“Bessent already acted inappropriately in his current role at Treasury, allowing Musk and his DOGE acolytes access to Americans’ personal information. It’s likely consumers who shared personal information with the CFPB will be at risk next.”