The Office of Inspector General (OIG) for the Federal Reserve System and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is investigating the Trump administration’s actions to dismantle the CFPB.
The OIG said it will review workforce reductions and canceled contracts to determine if the agency is still able to function and protect American consumers. The move comes after U.S. Sens. Andy Kim (D-NJ) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) called for an investigation into the impact of the administration’s actions. The Government Accountability Office is also looking into the administration’s actions, including attempted firings, stop-work order, and the announcement of dropped lawsuits to against major corporations accused of ripping off Americans.
“The CFPB exists to have people’s backs and protect them from scams — successfully returning billions of dollars back to Americans. As Trump dismantles vital public services, an independent OIG investigation is essential to understand the damage done by this administration at the CFPB and ensure it can still fulfill its mandate to work on the people’s behalf and hold companies who try to cheat and scam them accountable,” Kim, a member of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, said.
In April, about 40 Congress members sent a letter to CFPB acting director Russell Voight outlining more than 80 Congressionally mandated functions of the CFPB and asking how the agency would be able to fulfill those functions after the Trump administration fired almost the entire staff of the agency. The letter outlined, in detail, the impact of mass layoffs, including how the firing of all but one employee helping victims of scams.