Released: February 13, 2025

What cuts to the CFPB could mean for consumers

Source: Alana Semuels, TIME

In an email, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) employees were told to not approve or issue rules or guidance and that they should suspend the effective date of rules that had not yet become effective, which includes the medical debt rule. Employees were also told to cease any pending investigations and not issue any public communications of any type.

“CFPB RIP,” Musk wrote on X on Feb. 7.

The CFPB prosecutes companies that it says fail to protect consumers. In December, it filed a lawsuit against the operator of Zelle and three of the nation’s largest banks for allegedly failing to safeguard consumers from fraud. In January, it sued the credit reporting agency Experian for allegedly failing to investigate consumer disputes. Perhaps most importantly, the CFPB writes rules to help consumers.

Some of the consumers who might be first affected by the Trump Administration’s moves to limit the CFPB’s power are those who have medical debts ruining their credit scores, or those who say that banks have charged them too much on overdraft fees.

 

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