Today, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), the top Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, released this statement following reports that Elon Musk has taken over the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and is rapidly advancing plans to eliminate the agency. These plans were further confirmed when Musk tweeted yesterday, “CFPB RIP.”

“Make no mistake, unelected billionaire Elon Musk and his minions at the so-called Department of Government Efficiency are systematically killing the CFPB. After firing the previous Director, Trump’s team halted agency work including enforcement activity, leaving millions of victims who have been ripped off by predatory lenders and ultra-wealthy big banks out to dry. As if their plans to kill the agency weren’t clear enough, yesterday Musk confirmed it when he tweeted ‘CFPB RIP.’ Hours later in the dead of the night, when he thought no one was looking, Musk deleted CFPB’s X account and took steps to shut down the CFPB’s website to suppress information and obstruct consumers from accessing crucial guidance on their rights and protections under the law.

“Musk’s takeover of the CFPB is a five-alarm crisis and a frightening violation of millions of Americans’ data privacy. As it stands, Musk can now see the personal information of people who, after being swindled by bad actors, reached out to the CFPB in a moment of desperation. This includes all of their documents that they may have provided in search of relief, like bank statements, credit card information, Social Security numbers, and even medical information.

“Why the richest man in the world is working to gut the agency that has returned $21 billion to harmed American consumers is simple. Not only does this shield his billionaire buddies from accountability for defrauding working-class families, but Musk also has billions of dollars at stake with many of his companies deeply tied to federal government contracts. Musk also has made it known that he plans to turn Twitter (stupidly renamed X) into a payments platform. Such a platform would be regulated by – you guessed it – the CFPB. So, in addition to having access to the consumer data of millions of Americans, Musk can now illegally steal sensitive business information about other American companies in the same industry. It doesn’t get any more corrupt and anti-American than that.

“My Democratic colleagues and I will not stand by as a corrupt, crooked billionaire illegally takes control of an agency designed to protect working-class families from criminals like him. We will fight this every step of the way.”

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