This weekend, the administration froze all Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s supervision and enforcement activity
Illegally closing the agency will leave American consumers, military families vulnerable to being ripped off
WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator John Hickenlooper joined nine Senate colleagues to call on Russell Vought, Director of the Office of Management and Budget, to end his directive freezing all supervisory and enforcement action at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). Vought also currently serves as the CFPB’s acting director.
The CFPB defends American consumers against predatory lending and unfair practices like junk fees. It has returned $20 billion to American consumers since its establishment in 2011.
Congress tasked the agency with enforcing the Military Lending Act (MLA), which protects active-duty service members and their dependents from abusive lending. The Trump administration’s stop work order exposes military families to steep interest rates, junk fees, and other abuses.
“This decision leaves all Americans susceptible to predatory lending and other abusive practices, but in particular, it eliminates protections that prevent servicemembers from being exploited,” the senators wrote. “This funding, supervision, enforcement, and communications freeze will hit military families especially hard.”
To date, the CFPB has successfully resolved 39 cases – including six MLA violations – involving service members and veterans, returning $363 million to victims. Multiple MLA cases are still being considered in court and the freeze will undermine these cases and weaken service member protections overall.
The senators continued, “We request that the CFPB continue to supervise and investigate violations of the consumer financial protection laws and take forceful enforcement actions against lenders that violate the law, especially when it comes to predatory lending that harms our military readiness.”
Hickenlooper previously chaired the Senate Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety and Data Security in the 118th Congress. Full text of the letter is available HERE.
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