"Since he began overseeing the newly created Dept of Govt Efficiency, #Musk has upended the norms of bureaucracy...

But his team’s recent appearance at the #FAA presents the starkest test yet of Musk’s ability to not just shrink #government, but to transform his #political power into potential #business for his companies."
https://archive.is/BUV7L#selection-2115.251-2115.455

@briankrebs Angry about the mass #DOGE firings from #USDS, #CFPB, #NIH, #18F, and everywhere else across the federal government?

Tech for Public Good (https://www.publicgood.tech/) is holding a fundraiser to waive dues for federal technologists who’ve lost their jobs. They offer job resources & professional community for people who do government tech work.

Your contribution is vital -- any amount helps!

https://neon.publicgood.tech/campaigns/support-memberships

Trump administration & Musk's DOGE plan to fire nearly all CFPB staff & wind down agency...

In a trove of statements released late Thursday, federal employees said that the mass layoff was discussed in meetings they attended this month.
https://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/trump-administration-musks-doge-plan-fire-cfpb-staff-close-agency-rcna194217

"Since #DOGE operatives first arrived at the #CFPB this month, the bureau has closed its Washington headquarters, initiated the first round of layoffs, and told those who remain to stop nearly all work."

“Nobody is helped by shutting down the agency, except #BigBanks, #ConMen & rip-off artists, oh & #billionaires like Mr. Musk, who is trying to start a new ‘#XMoney’ feature on his social media platform,” Sen #ElizabethWarren said at the hearing. “By eliminating the #CFPB, he would take the financial cop off the beat.”

The dismissed cases “underscore why the #CFPB’s work is so essential to investigate practices that are draining hard-earned #money from the pockets of everyday people,” Lauren Saunders, assoc dir of the Natl Consumer #Law Center, said….

The CFPB’s #consumer-complaint system is already suffering. #Senate #Banking Cmte #Democrats released a report Tues that found an 80% drop in the processing of consumer complaints in the first weeks of the #Trump admin.

#Musk #economy #regulation #kleptocracy

But on Thurs, the #Trump #CFPB dropped several complaints against financial institutions, including the ones for #CapitalOne & #RocketHomes.

“We welcome the CFPB’s decision to dismiss this action, which we strongly disputed,” a spokesperson for Capital One said in an emailed statement.

In a statement, Rocket Homes said: “This case was a misrepresentation of the facts, as we have said from the day the suit was filed.”

A month earlier, the #CFPB filed a lawsuit against #RocketHomes Real Estate, alleging that the company incentivized real estate brokers & agents to steer home buyers to #RocketMortgage.

“At a time when #homeownership feels out of reach for so many, companies should not illegally block competition in ways that drive up the cost of #housing,” said then-CFPB Dir Rohit Chopra in announcing the action.

#Trump #Musk #law #economy #regulation #banks #credit #loans #kleptocracy
https://www.consumerfinance.gov/about-us/newsroom/cfpb-files-lawsuit-to-stop-illegal-kickback-scheme-to-steer-borrowers-to-rocket-mortgage/

In one of its final actions under the #Biden admin, for example, the #CFPB filed a lawsuit on Jan 14 against #CapitalOne, alleging the financial institution misrepresented its “360 Savings” accounts, effectively “cheating consumers out of more than $2B in interest payments.”

#Trump #Musk #DOGE #law #economy #regulation #banks #credit #loans #mortgages #foreclosures #debt #housing #markets #USpol #kleptocracy #plutocracy
https://www.consumerfinance.gov/about-us/newsroom/cfpb-sues-capital-one-for-cheating-consumers-out-of-more-than-2-billion-in-interest-payments-on-savings-accounts/

“Since its founding, the #CFPB has returned over $21B directly to #consumers. It’s helped #ServiceMembers who have been ripped off by unscrupulous lenders. It’s helped borrowers whose #StudentLoan servicers treated them unfairly; it’s helped families that have been scammed; & it’s helped thousands of Americans that have been charged extortionate fees by big #banks & other financial services providers,” Sen #ElizabethWarren said during a hearing this week.

In the 14 yrs the #CFPB has existed, it has challenged #banks on outrageous overdraft fees, taken on payday #lenders, & issued rules to rein in rogue #debt collectors. It created a complaint database to help #consumers seeking to resolve disputes with their #creditors & pursued companies & industries w/ #deceptive marketing & billing practices.

The agency was also laser-focused on making companies communicate w/consumers in plain language.

#Trump #Musk #DOGE #law #regulation #USpol

Recall how big businesses’ reckless behavior sent our #economy & the #housing market into a financial tailspin? People lost their #homes & #jobs. Fearing even greater declines, many investors cashed out of the #StockMarket, locking in losses they never recovered.

It took the #recession & a wave of #foreclosures before #Congress acted to require simpler mortgage-disclosure forms. That task was assigned to the #CFPB, the brainchild of Sen #ElizabethWarren (D-MA).

When harmed, the average #consumer often doesn’t have the #money to defend themself. Hiring an attorney is expensive. Rooting out deceptive predatory practices should be left to the #government, not a family trying to make ends meet.

Remember the Great #Recession?

During his first term, #Trump was hell-bent on eviscerating the authority of an agency that #Congress authorized to protect #consumers after the 2008 financial crisis. His choice to lead the agency in 2017 signaled his disdain: Mick Mulvaney, a fmr congressman who voted to abolish the #CFPB.

…But consumers needed then — & need now — a powerful advocate.

“Please reply to this email w/approx. 5 bullets of what you accomplished this week & cc your manager,” said the #OPM msg that went out to federal employees. The email told employees to respond by midnight on Mon….

The email was received by workers across the government, including at the #FBI, the #State Dept, the #EPA, the Office of Personnel Management, the #FDA, the #Veterans Affairs Dept [#VA], the Centers for #Medicare & #Medicaid Services & the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau [#CFPB]…

"Debanking is suddenly less of concern when the same group that is most equipped to tackle it has proposed consumer protections for crypto customers that could cause Coinbase to have to reimburse some of the $300 million or so stolen from its customers over the past year alone."

#MollyWhite, 2025

https://www.citationneeded.news/crypto-industrys-debanking-smokescreen/

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Now, the #CFPB is in #ElonMusk's crosshairs as the latest target of #DOGE tasked by #Trump to cut federal spending when the agency was poised to oversee his plan of morphing X into a #financial services juggernaut.

"The fact that #Musk is now engaged in payment businesses that would be regulated by the CFPB at the same time he's trying to tear down the CFPB puts in sharp relief the #ConflictsOfInterests here & how much this disserves the general public," said Richard Cordray, Obama’s CFPB dir.…

#X announced it struck a deal w/ #Visa to soon offer a mobile payments service, cementing the card giant as the first major partner in a feature called "#XMoneyAccount."

This service would be directly regulated by the #CFPB under expanded #oversight powers it had finalized late last year allowing the agency to police things like #privacy issues, #fraud & how disputed transactions are handled at mobile payment #apps….