White House scales back plans to dismantle consumer financial watchdog
AP News • • business
Key Points:
- The Trump administration has revised its plan to downsize the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), proposing a reduction to about 550 employees, larger than the initially planned 200 but smaller than the 1,700 authorized before Trump's second term.
- The proposed cuts face opposition from the CFPB’s employee union, which argues that the reduction undermines the bureau’s ability to fulfill its statutory duties and reflects an intent to dismantle the agency.
- Budget constraints, following a nearly 50% operational budget cut by Congress in a bill signed by Trump, are cited by the administration as necessitating the workforce reduction.
- The staffing cuts would heavily impact the bureau’s supervision and enforcement divisions, potentially eliminating five-sixths of supervision roles and four-fifths of enforcement staff.
- Since Trump’s second term began, the CFPB has become largely inoperable, with staff instructed to halt most work and focus on reversing policies from the Biden administration and earlier Trump tenure.
