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WARREN SAYS TRUMP AND MUSK PUSHING TO GUT CFPB AS ’PAYOFF TO THE
RICH GUYS  
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Julia Conley
February 10, 2025
Common Dreams
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_ "If they succeed, CEOs and Wall Street will once again be free to
trick, trap, and cheat you," said the Democratic senator. _

U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) speaks during the We Choose To
Fight: Nobody Elected Elon Rally at the U.S. Department of the
Treasury on February 4, 2025 in Washington, D.C, Jemal Countess/Getty
Images for MoveOn

 

As the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's website went dark and
its offices were shuttered on Monday, with the agency's chief
operating officer telling
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staff it would be shut down for the week, U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren
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progressive leaders calling out the attack on the CFPB as one whose
real target is working families across the country.

Chief Operating Officer Adam Martinez's message to staffers followed a
weekend directive from Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director
Russell Vought, which ordered
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agency to "cease all supervision and examination activity."

As _Common Dreams_reported
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President Donald Trump's billionaire backer, Elon Musk
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CFPB" on his social media platform X, late last week. Musk has a
vested interest in shutting down the agency due to his plan
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partner with Visa on a peer-to-peer payment system on X—the kind of
financial venture that CFPB would oversee as it fights to ensure
Americans aren't overcharged and scammed by big businesses.

In addition to helping ensure the federal government won't hold Musk's
new business accountable, said Warren (D-Mass.), Trump is intent on
securing "a payoff to the rich guys who invested in his campaign and
who want to cheat families and not have anybody around to stop them."

"If you have a bank account or a credit card or a mortgage or student
loan, this is code red. I am ringing the alarm bell," said Warren in a
video posted to social media. "If they succeed, CEOs and Wall Street
will once again be free to trick, trap, and cheat you."

The agency shut down this week as the National Treasury Employees
Union, which represents CFPB workers, filed
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two lawsuits against Vought in the U.S. District Court for the
District of Columbia over the Trump administration's takeover of the
agency.

The union is seeking to block the Department of Government Efficiency
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DOGE [[link removed]]), the advisory body led
by Musk, from gaining access to CFPB employee data.

It also alleges that Vought's halting of the agency's operations
"reflects an unlawful attempt to thwart Congress' decision to create
the CFPB to protect American consumers."

Trump's attempt to shut down the agency is "another scam," said
Warren—a former law professor who proposed and then helped build the
CFPB before joining Congress.

"For years, Republicans have tried and tried again to repeal it in
Congress and they have failed every single time," said the senator.
"Congress built the CFPB, and no one other than Congress—not the
president, not Musk, not Vought—can shut it down."

Trump, Musk, and other powerful CEOs want the CFPB shut down, Warren
said, because "this little agency has forced giant banks and
corporations to give back more than $21 billion directly to families
they cheated."

In a statement, government watchdog Accountable.US said
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the attack on the agency is "a direct gut punch to American consumers,
and a long-awaited gift to big banks that have been lobbying against
the CFPB since before it was established by the landmark law to
protect consumers in the wake of the 2007–08 Great Recession. It
pauses ongoing investigations into cases of fraud and predatory
practices by banks that rip off American consumers."

The group also noted that attempts to shut down a bureau that has
directly financially benefited working families and held Wall Street
accountable is just the latest evidence that, despite the populist
tone he struck during his campaign, Trump is breaking his promises "to
lower costs and protect American consumers."

Accountable.US also pointed to the $3,900 more the typical U.S. family
would pay in taxes under Trump's tax plan and the executive action the
president rescinded that was aimed at lowering prescription drug
costs.

"Attacking the CFPB is the latest reminder that Trump's Washington
will always put the interests of big banks, corporations, and his
billionaire donors ahead of the American people," said Accountable.US
executive director Tony Carrk. "In its more than a decade as an
agency, the CFPB has put billions of dollars back into the pockets of
American families and held big banks accountable for predatory
practices that scam consumers and raise their costs. Gutting the
agency all but confirms that Trump and Musk are reimagining the
government to service themselves at the expense of Americans—who
will without a doubt see their costs rise as a result of these
efforts."

While DOGE has swept through the offices of numerous government
agencies in recent weeks, claiming it's cutting costs for American
taxpayers and improving efficiency, organizer Leah Greenberg said
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the attack on CFPB and other agencies "isn't about saving money."

"It's about making it easier for the ultrarich to keep scamming the
rest of us, unchecked and unchallenged," said Greenberg, co-founder of
the progressive advocacy group Indivisible. "And let's not forget:
Musk isn't just any billionaire throwing his weight around—he has
clear conflicts of interest with massive financial stakes in
industries regulated by the very agencies he's trying to dismantle."

Warren said Democratic lawmakers "will not let up in Congress or the
courts until we win this fight."

"There is power in fighting back," said the senator, "so please call
your representative and most of all, get the word out. We are here to
fight for the little agency that fights for us."

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Julia Conley is a staff writer for Common Dreams.

* Consumer Financial Protestion Bureau; Elizabeth Warren;
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