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Elon Musk wants to 'delete' a federal agency designed to prevent another financial crisis

In his efforts to cut government costs, Elon Musk has thrown his support behind slashing a federal office created in the wake of the Great Recession to regulate financial services used by Americans.

"Delete CFPB," Musk wrote on X early Wednesday of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. "There are too many duplicative regulatory agencies."

Musk, along with Vivek Ramaswamy, has been tasked with heading up the Trump-created Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, and finding ways to reduce spending and streamline bureaucracy within the federal government. The unofficial advisors have floated "deleting" entire agencies, laying off staff, and enforcing return-to-office mandates.

When reached for comment, a spokesperson for Trump's transition team said she had nothing to add to Musk's statement.

While it's unclear how DOGE and the incoming Trump Administration would abolish agencies, if it does, the CFPB could be on the chopping block. Here's a look at its purpose, employee makeup, and political controversies.

The CFPB was created by Congress as part of the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act. The law aimed to strengthen oversight of Wall Street after its risky mortgage lending practices caused the global financial crisis. The CFPB has a broad mandate to protect Americans from deceptive or abusive practices by US financial firms. The agency investigates consumer complaints related to credit cards, loans, bank accounts, and debt collection and enforces consumer protection laws.

Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a professor at Harvard Law School, originally proposed the agency in 2007. In 2010, President Barack Obama appointed Warren to head the CFPB's steering committee to help establish it.

"The time for hiding tricks and traps in the fine print is over," Warren said during a White House ceremony that year. "This new bureau is based on the simple idea that if the playing field is level and families can see what's going on, they will have better tools to make better choices."

As of March 2024, the CFPB employed just under 1,700 people, earning an average of about $184,000 a year, according to the Office of Personnel Management. The Bureau's 2024 financial report broke that workforce into six groups; about 43% of CFPB's employees work in the supervision and enforcement of financial institutions, 18% in operations supporting the Bureau's other initiatives, and 14% in research, monitoring, and regulations.

Since its founding, the CFPB has recouped $19.6 billion for consumers through direct compensation, canceled debt, and reduced loan principals.

The agency has also issued $5 billion in civil penalties against banks, credit unions, debt collectors, payday lenders, for-profit colleges, and other financial services companies. That money is deposited into a victims' relief fund, with nearly 200 million people eligible for relief.

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by Anonymousreply 15December 12, 2024 12:28 PM

As far as anyone knows, DOGE does not exist. It’s just Elon issues decrees on X. But just wait until his new ermine robe arrives!

by Anonymousreply 1November 28, 2024 2:10 AM

Can't we just 'delete' him and move on?

by Anonymousreply 2November 28, 2024 2:13 AM

The CFPB is the best government agency created during the last 25 years. It sets regulations that protect consumers from deceptive and predatory practices of banks and companies.Republicans have been trying to kill it since its inception. It will not survive a second Trump term.

Dead Agency Walking.

by Anonymousreply 3November 28, 2024 3:03 AM

From your lips to some nutjob's itchy finger R2

by Anonymousreply 4November 28, 2024 3:13 AM

Why would Elon want to remove protections for consumers?

by Anonymousreply 5November 28, 2024 3:13 AM

R3 is spot on. Look at the money they collect for people, that is a success. Lots of shady money lenders want to get rid of that. All the payday loan people and ones that charge 200% interest and slap a lien on some desperate person's filthy old car for a few hundred dollars. It's predatory and the owners of those businesses want it gone

by Anonymousreply 6November 28, 2024 3:18 AM

CFBP has already saved consumers billions of dollars by going after companies that cheat consumers.

THAT’s why Republicans hate it

by Anonymousreply 7November 28, 2024 3:28 AM

It really seems like evil is taking over this world, and the bad guys have won.

This is so discouraging and soul crushing.

by Anonymousreply 8November 28, 2024 8:57 AM

Uninformed voters, who make up most of the people who voted for Trump, are not clever enough to understand that eliminating protections for consumers might not redound to their (consumers’) benefit.

by Anonymousreply 9November 28, 2024 9:37 AM

These uninformed voters only concern is that the cost of a bag of Doritos went up to $6.99. Someone must pay for this outrage.

by Anonymousreply 10November 28, 2024 10:02 AM

Yeah. While we’re at it, let’s gut the Federal Trade Commission too. How dare they threaten the companies that gouge consumers for Doritos !

by Anonymousreply 11November 28, 2024 10:20 AM

CFBP has always been in the GOP crosshairs because it alerts Americans of companies that are stealing from us.

by Anonymousreply 12November 28, 2024 2:37 PM

[quote]These uninformed voters only concern is that the cost of a bag of Doritos went up to $6.99. Someone must pay for this outrage.

Once Trump comes in and the cost jumps to $10.99 per bag, expect a slew of mass shootings from his crazed base that can't cope with the inflation they caused by voting for the orange menace.

by Anonymousreply 13November 28, 2024 11:32 PM

Sounds good to me.

It's about time we had another Republican fueled GLOBAL ECONOMIC MELTDOWN, like we did in 2008.

by Anonymousreply 14December 12, 2024 12:19 PM

Of course they hate the CFPB, it’s one of the few agencies that actually does effective work at making the lives of regular people better. Nothing is worse than that.

by Anonymousreply 15December 12, 2024 12:28 PM
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