The departure of Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Rohit Chopra over the weekend came as congressional Republicans, including senior committee members, are offering legislation to rein in the agency while Democrats worry that it could be weakened or even eliminated.
Democrats quickly weighed in on President Donald Trump’s firing, praising Chopra’s leadership at an agency that has returned about $20 billion to harmed customers since it was established by a major financial overhaul law after the 2008-09 financial crisis.
“Make no mistake, today’s decision is the first step by Trump, his co-President Elon Musk, and their Republican allies in Congress to dismantle the agency entirely, leaving consumers with no place to turn to for help and no real watchdog to hold predatory lenders and other bad actors accountable,” House Financial Services Committee ranking member Maxine Waters, D-Calif., said in a Saturday statement.
“Rest assured, my fellow Committee Democrats and I will continue to fight, as we have for more than 14 years, to defend the CFPB from Republican attacks and ensure they stay true to its mission of protecting hardworking Americans from financial institutions who continue to profit at their expense,” Waters added.
The CFPB said Monday that Trump designated Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent acting CFPB director on Jan. 31.
“I look forward to working with the CFPB to advance President Trump’s agenda to lower costs for the American people and accelerate economic growth,” Bessent said in a statement.
Senate Commerce Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas, introduced a bill on Jan. 29 that would defund the CFPB. The agency draws its funding through the Federal Reserve. The Congressional Research Service said in a December report that its fiscal 2025 funding was capped at $823 million.
Rep. Keith Self, R-Texas, offered a companion to Cruz’s bill in the House on Jan. 28.
Rep. Andy Barr, R-Ky., the chairman of the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Financial Institutions, introduced a bill that would rename the CFPB the Consumer Financial Empowerment Agency and subject it to congressional appropriations.
Senate Banking Committee ranking member Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., who was deeply involved in the establishment of the agency, said the CFPB’s work aligns with the Trump administration’s goals.
“President Trump campaigned on capping credit card interest rates at 10 percent and lowering costs for Americans,” Warren said in a Saturday statement. “He needs a strong CFPB and a strong CFPB Director to do that. But if President Trump and Republicans decide to cower to Wall Street billionaires and destroy the agency, they will have a fight on their hands.”
Warren commended the CFPB for “protecting Americans from junk fees, medical debt, and predatory lending,” and cautioned the Trump administration not to weaken it.
Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., said the CFPB is a bulwark against predatory financial practices.
“By weakening protections for American families, Donald Trump is paving the way for a Golden Age of predatory lending — hitting working people with more fees, higher interest rates, and higher costs,” Schumer said in a Saturday statement.
House Financial Services Chairman French Hill, R-Ark., reposted Chopra’s letter with an applause emoji. In a statement Monday, he said he would work with Bessent “to finally rein in this unaccountable agency by putting the CFPB under the appropriations process, making it a bipartisan commission, and providing appropriate statutory guardrails.”
Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Chairman Tim Scott, R-S.C., reposted the AP story on the dismissal, adding, “This is great news for American consumers.”
The agency remained active after November’s election — issuing a final rule that would prohibit the inclusion of medical debt on credit reports and taking several enforcement actions — while other regulators halted rulemaking and slowed other regulatory work.
Many Republicans took particular exception to the agency under Chopra, saying it consistently overstepped its bounds. They pushed for him to exit earlier, but he said he wouls stay until Trump appointed a replacement.
That time came over the weekend. Chopra was appointed to a five-year term in 2021. The Supreme Court ruled in 2020 that the president can replace the CFPB director at will, effectively overturning legislation that had sought to make the director independent of the president.
Chopra said he was proud of the agency’s work.
“We’ve led efforts across the government to stop the scourge of junk fees in banking and across sectors of the economy, to tame the harmful impact of medical bills riddled with errors, and to limit the creep of surveillance by data brokers that puts our sensitive data in the hands of foreign adversaries,” Chopra wrote in his letter to Trump. “I know the CFPB is ready to work with you and the next confirmed Director, and we have devoted a great deal of energy to ensure continued success.”
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