U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Ranking Member of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, and fellow Banking Committee Democrats have sent a letter to Acting Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Russell Vought voicing concern over new evidence that he plans to illegally shut down the CFPB.
In a recent appearance on the "The Charlie Kirk Show," Vought said that he wants to shutter the CFPB, despite the Trump administration having argued in court that there is no such plan to dismantle an agency created by Congress.
Since it officially opened for business in July 2011, the CFPB has returned more than $21 billion to Americans wronged by financial institutions, and a federal court issued a preliminary injunction prohibiting a shutdown.
In the interview, Vought announced that he plans to “close down” the CFPB “within the next two or three months.”
“These comments are particularly concerning given that a federal court has specifically blocked you from illegally shutting down the agency,” wrote the Banking Committee Democrats in their letter. “You have also let the fiscal year pass without having requested any funding for the CFPB to perform its work, an unprecedented approach that threatens to leave the agency unable to fulfill its many statutory obligations on behalf of consumers across the country. Your continued attempts to shutter the CFPB are illegal, and American families stand to pay the price.”
In July 2010, Congress passed and President Obama signed the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. The law – often referred to as the Dodd-Frank Act – created the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (the CFPB). Part of the purpose of creating the Bureau was to increase accountability in government by consolidating consumer financial protection authorities that had existed across seven different federal agencies into one. Consumer financial protection had not been the primary focus of any federal agency, and no agency had effective tools to set the rules for and oversee the whole market. The result was a system without effective rules or consistent enforcement. The results can be seen, both in the 2008 financial crisis and in its aftermath.
Those signing the letter to Acting Director Vought include Sens. Jack Reed (D-RI), Mark Warner (D-VA), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Tina Smith (D-MN), Raphael Wanock (D-GA), Andy Kim (D-NJ), Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE), and Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD).
The letter continued: “You should be focused on reducing costs for Americans across the country, as President Trump promised he would do on Day One of his Administration. Instead, you are making it easier for big banks and giant corporations to cheat and scam families across the country, declaring open season on American consumers.”
The lawmakers concluded their memo by calling for Vought to provide specifics on his plans to shut down the CFPB no later than October 31, 2025.
