
Our eyes were glued to the television. My wife and I were watching the stock market in free fall. One in four homeowners owed more on their homes than what they were worth, and the unemployment rate was skyrocketing. It was a perfect storm created by unregulated financial markets and deceptive financial products. We were on the precipice of a total collapse.
Our economic system might have been saved when the banks were bailed out, but millions of Americans still suffered.
Following the financial crisis of 2007–08, an independent bureau within the Federal Reserve, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), was formed. The CFPB aims to promote fairness and transparency for mortgages, credit cards, and other consumer financial products and services.
We need the government to work for us—not the big banks, but hard-working American families. The CFPB does this job, and it’s been doing its job well.
✓ CFPB has obtained $17.5 billion in refunds and other relief for an estimated 200 million Americans mistreated by financial firms.
✓ CFPB has fielded more than 3,850,000 complaints from consumers since launching the database, and 98% of complaints forwarded to companies get timely responses.
✓ The CFPB has imposed $5 billion in civil money penalties on companies and individuals that violate the law.
✓ CFPB has fined and banned some student loan servicers for defrauding student borrowers.
Most recently, the CFPB finalized a rule to remove medical bills from credit reports and end coercive debt collection practices that weaponize the credit reporting system. To be specific, an estimated $49 billion in medical bills from the credit reports of about 15 million Americans.
These are only the recent highlights of how CFPB fights for us.
I’ve seen first-hand the hard work done at CFPB. I served a one-year term there as a Visiting Scholar.
This evening, my wife and I were once again glued to the TV. This time, the origin of our fear was not as apparent to most, nor could it be described with the sensationalism that dominates entertainment disguised as news. But nonetheless, I know how what happened at CFPB could impact our financial system.
CFPB has been temporarily frozen from its charge to work for us.
According to an internal email obtained by the New York Times, Trump-appointed CFPB Director Scott Bessent ordered employees “not to issue or approve any proposed or final rules, and were also told to suspend all final rules that have been issued but that have not yet become effective. Staff members were also instructed not to start new enforcement investigations or continue working on those that were in process.”
Mr. Bessent, a billionaire hedge fund manager, was also tapped to lead the Treasury Department. He received immediate criticism in that new position when he awarded Elon Musk unprecedented access to the U.S. Treasury electronic payment system.
It's important to point out that CFPB is not funded through tax dollars, but rather from the Federal Reserve to insulate it from political influence. Such funding mechanisms were approved by a Supreme Court ruling of 7-2 in May of 2024.
The power of a fair and well-regulated marketplace allows capitalism to work for us. Halting that work is unprecedented and dangerous.
We empower couples to manage money (and the home) as a team. It was born from the idea that in a world dominated by dual-career couples, where money is a leading reason for divorce, we could empower marriages with systems and strategies that lead to financial harmony.
But the money conversations we have at the kitchen table rely on fair and enforced financial rules that reward personal responsibility.
We cannot allow our financial system to be stripped of the protections designed to keep us safe. The CFPB should not be eliminated, paused, or stripped of its authority.
If you want to do something about it, have your voice heard. Click here to contact your representatives.
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