Musk and Trump Side With Big Banks and Predatory Lenders in Illegal Move To Eliminate CFPB
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is reportedly sending mass termination letters to staff as part of what appears to be a Trump administration plan to completely dissolve the CFPB. Earlier today, Public Citizen, co-counseling Gupta Wessler LLP and the National Treasury Employees Union, and representing the CFPB Employee Association, NAACP, National Consumer Law Center, National Treasury Employees Union, Pastor Eva Steege, and Virginia Poverty Law Center, sued the Trump administration to stop the dismantling of the agency.
Robert Weissman, co-president of Public Citizen, said:
“With their illegal and unconstitutional move to eliminate the CFPB, co-presidents Elon Musk and Donald Trump aim to deliver a corrupt bounty to Big Banks, predatory lenders and other financial corporations. The CFPB has eliminated junk fees, capped credit card late charges, stopped the weaponization of medical debt, sued giant corporations, handled tens of thousands of individual complaints and provided relief to consumers of more than $21 billion — of course Big Banks, payday lenders, and financial scam artists want to eliminate it.
“Elon Musk has a direct interest in eliminating the agency, which would be a regulator of X if it proceeds with well-reported plans to provide money transfer services.
“No move could more clearly show whose side Trump and Musk are on – and who they are willing to exploit.”
Lisa Gilbert, co-president of Public Citizen, added:
“Doing away with this critical agency would massively increase fraud, the scourge that Musk allegedly aims to curtail, along with supercharging scams, excess fees and charges, and assorted ripoffs. It will injure everyday Americans and line the pockets of the financial titans.
“The good news is, none of this is up to Musk and Trump. The CFPB is enshrined in law — a direct response to the last great financial crisis – and it is Congress and Congress only that could choose to eliminate it. The courts will strike down this illegal and unconstitutional maneuver.”