Warren says CFPB changes have cost consumers $26.5 billion
The Massachusetts Democrat says rolled-back fee rules and dropped enforcement cases account for the estimated hit to Americans.
By Sofia Marchetti · World Affairs Correspondent
3 min read
Sen. Elizabeth Warren said Thursday that changes at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau under President Donald Trump have cost Americans as much as $26.5 billion. The Massachusetts Democrat’s report puts a dollar figure on the party’s broader charge that the administration has weakened a consumer watchdog built after the 2008 financial crisis.
Warren’s report says the largest costs come from the bureau’s retreat from Biden-era limits on credit-card late fees and bank overdraft charges. It also counts consumer relief that Democrats say was lost when the CFPB ended or narrowed enforcement cases and abandoned settlements.
The report was released as acting CFPB Director Russell Vought faced a Senate oversight hearing on the bureau’s direction. Senators are also considering Trump’s nomination of Brian Johnson, a former CFPB deputy director and Capital One executive, to lead the agency on a permanent basis.
Fee rules drive most of the estimate
Warren’s report attributes up to $15 billion in consumer costs to the CFPB’s decision to walk away from a rule that would have capped most credit-card late fees at $8. The CFPB had previously estimated that rule would save consumers about $10 billion a year.
The report assigns another $7.5 billion to the repeal of the bureau’s overdraft rule. That measure would have limited many banks to charging $5 for overdrafts, according to Warren’s report.
Together, those two fee policies account for $22.5 billion of the total estimate. Warren’s report says the remaining roughly $4 billion comes from more than three dozen enforcement actions and settlements the bureau dropped, including some that had been expected to deliver payments to consumers.
Fight over the agency’s future
Since Trump returned to office last year, his administration has cut CFPB staffing, rolled back Biden-era rules and dropped or reduced dozens of enforcement matters, according to CNBC. Administration officials have described the changes as a return to the bureau’s core mission.
Republicans have defended the overhaul as a needed check on a regulator they view as too aggressive, according to CNBC. Democrats, led by Warren, say the administration has damaged the agency’s ability to police unfair or deceptive conduct in consumer finance.
Warren has a long history with the bureau. She conceived of the CFPB and helped create it after the 2008 financial crisis, according to CNBC.
The Thursday oversight hearing was set to cover Vought’s actions at the bureau, including dismissed enforcement actions and consent orders. CNBC reported that senators were also expected to examine an allegation that the CFPB recently removed 15 years of consumer data from its website.
Before the hearing, Warren sent Vought a letter listing congressional oversight requests that she said remained unanswered during his time running the agency. The White House and the CFPB did not immediately respond to CNBC’s requests for comment.
This story draws on original reporting from CNBC.