Share this article!

President Trump’s Saturday morning firing of Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Rohit Chopra generated a split reaction, with Republicans welcoming the ouster of the Biden-appointed regulator and Democrats not sharing that enthusiasm.

Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, took to X to cheer Trump’s action.

“This is great news for American consumers,” Scott tweeted. “I have repeatedly called for Director Chopra’s resignation since last year. I look forward to working with the next Director of the CFPB to increase accountability at the bureau and deliver for the American people.”

Rep. Dan Meuser (R-PA), a member of both the House of Representatives’ Banking and Small Business Committees, also went to X to declare, “Today, @realDonaldTrump made a much-needed leadership change at the @CFPB. Now is the time to rein in the unaccountable agency by bringing it under the appropriations process, increasing transparency, and ensuring it prioritizes consumer protection over bureaucratic overreach.”

Meuser added, “I’ve said many times, a more accountable CFPB should talk to the industry it regulates and find common ground on how to best protect consumers. That includes a focus on expanding access to capital, fostering competition, and empowering consumers through choice—not stifling them with excessive regulation.”

But on the other side of the political aisle, Senate Minority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) saw things a little differently.

“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 tweeted.

And Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), who is widely credited as being the architect of the CFPB during its Obama-era formation, went on a political warpath by threatening to combat any attempt by Trump to change the agency.

“Under Rohit Chopra’s leadership, the CFPB is holding Wall Street accountable for cheating hard-working families and preventing the de-banking of Americans across the country, including consumers locked out of the financial system due to overdraft fees, religious organizations, and conservatives,” said Warren, the ranking member of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, in a statement. “The agency has returned over $20 billion to consumers since its founding – protecting Americans from junk fees, medical debt, and predatory lending. President Trump campaigned on capping credit card interest rates at 10% and lowering costs for Americans. 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.”

As for the future of the agency, Hal Scott, an emeritus professor at Harvard Law School and director of the Committee on Capital Markets Regulation, used a Wall Street Journal op-ed to ask President Trump to shut down the CFPB, claiming it was operating illegally.

“Congress mandated that it be funded by the earnings of the Federal Reserve, but there have been no earnings since the Fed began incurring losses in September 2022 due to rising interest rates. These losses currently total $219.6 billion. The CFPB’s defense, in 13 pending enforcement cases where defendants have raised the illegality of funding, is that ‘earnings’ really means revenue, an absurd claim under accounting standards. It is telling that the Fed, the source of illegal funding, has been silent on the issue. Since the bureau is operating illegally, the president can close it immediately by executive order. The order should declare that all work at the CFPB will stop, that all rules enacted since funding became illegal in September 2022 are void, and that no remaining rules will be enforced.”

Photo by Adam Fagen / Flickr Creative Commons