A new report from the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Minority Staff finds that American consumers paid the cost of President Donald Trump’s curtailing of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).
On Feb. 9, 2025, the Trump administration locked the front doors of the CFPB’s office, issuing stop-work orders and attempting to fire nearly the entire staff. Since then, the report found, the administration has worked to undo much of CFPB’s efforts to protect consumers and save them money. In the past year, the report said, more than 40 enforcement actions, settlements and consent orders were undone, while consumer complaints were disregarded, and bad actors were allowed to profit off of consumers. The net cost to American consumers was $19 billion, the report said.
“Donald Trump promised to lower costs for Americans ‘On Day One.’ Instead, he is trying to shut down an agency that protects Americans from getting scammed out of their money by big banks and giant corporations,” U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) said. “As a result, Trump’s attempt to sideline the CFPB has cost families billions of dollars over the last year alone. We’re going to keep fighting for the CFPB and against the billionaires who want to get rid of it.”
According to the staff’s analysis, the administration permanently dismissed at least 22 enforcement actions totaling more than $3.5 billion in restitution to consumers; reduced, dropped or failed to distribute payments from 23 settlements or consent orders totaling $225 million; rescinded CFPB rules and guidance that could have saved consumers up to $15 billion in overdraft fees and credit card late fees; and gutted the Consumer Complaint Program with was estimated to cost $40 million in direct consumer relief.