ALL DAY, EVERY DAY: How Maxine Waters and Committee Democrats Are Standing Up for Consumers, Facing Down Elon Musk in No-Holds Barred Fight for the Future of the CFPB
Ranking Member Maxine Waters and Committee Democrats Vow to Continue Relentless Fight to Save the CFPB.
This is just the beginning...
In recent weeks, the Trump Administration and co-President Elon Musk, have officially launched their Project 2025 plan aimed at dismantling the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, as Congresswoman Waters warned back in January. They recently escalated their efforts by prematurely firing the previous CFPB Director, Rohit Chopra, subsequently replacing him, moving to halt all enforcement and supervisory activity, and grant Elon Musk and his so-called “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE) unchecked authority to take control of the agency and access sensitive consumer and industry information. These actions have brought them closer to eliminating the agency completely.
On February 7, co-President Musk tweeted “CFPB RIP” and later that night his DOGE cronies snuck into the CFPB headquarters and began illegally accessing the Bureau’s data, including confidential employee records and supervisory and examination information. Committee Democrats quickly swung into action:
Led 79 House Democrats in demanding former Acting CFPB Director Scott Bessent reverse decision to freeze enforcement actions. Congresswoman Waters and Congressman Bill Foster led 79 House Democrats in a letter to former Acting Director Bessent, demanding he immediately reverse his decision to freeze critical enforcement actions and delay key consumer protection rules.
Exposed Musk’s plan to eliminate the CFPB. Congresswoman Waters released a fact sheet to inform Musk, Members of Congress, and the American public about the crucial role of the CFPB. The fact sheet also detailed how DOGE's plan to shut down the CFPB will harm working-class families.
Blasted data privacy violations and clear conflicts of interest in Musk’s unlawful CFPB takeover. Congresswoman Waters released a statement blasting Musk’s takeover of the CFPB and highlighting Musk’s plan to gut the CFPB to shield his upcoming payments platform from being regulated by the CFPB.
Led a social media campaign with dozens of Congressional Democrats to sound the alarm on the importance of the CFPB and the dangers of Musk’s efforts. Congresswoman Waters led a social media campaign with Congressional Democrats, flooding social media platforms with information about the valuable work carried out by the CFPB and the harm that would result from gutting the agency. See a few examples below:
Introduced legislation to protect data from Elon Musk. Congressman Sean Casten and key House members introduced a bill that would safeguard the personal data of private U.S. citizens from reckless and unlawful interference, particularly in light of Elon Musk’s illegal access to this information.
On February 8 and 9, Russell Vought, the acting head of the CFPB, threw the agency into further chaos when he ordered CFPB employees to stop all their work, illegally halted the flow of new funding to the agency, and shut down the agency’s headquarters. Committee Democrats responded accordingly:
Blasted Vought in the press. Congresswoman Waters joined MSNBC’s Jonathan Capehart to further sound the alarm on Musk’s illegal takeover of the CFPB and emphasize the devastating impact that dismantling the agency would have on American families.
Joined hundreds of people to demand immediate answers. Congresswoman Waters stood with Democratic Members of Congress, CFPB staffers, and consumer advocates outside of the agency headquarters to demand answers and accountability after Acting Director Vought ordered a shutdown of the agency, forcing employees to stay home and halting critical consumer protection work. Waters condemned these reckless actions and called for transparency on how the administration plans to safeguard consumers.
Demanded answers from Acting Director Vought on Project 2025 effort to defund the CFPB. Congresswoman Waters and Congressman Bill Foster sent a letter to Acting Director Vought, sounding the alarm on his recent request for $0 from the Fed to fund the CFPB’s operations for the third quarter of the fiscal year. Waters and Foster highlight that this is not only unlawful, but also a clear step toward fulfilling Project 2025’s directive and Musk’s promise to eliminate the CFPB.
Led nearly 200 Members of Congress to call on the Administration to remove Musk’s DOGE minions from the CFPB. Congresswoman Waters and Senator Elizabeth Warren led 143 members of the House and 46 Senators in sending a letter to Acting Director Vought and Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent calling on them to remove Musk’s operatives from the CFPB, restore all internal and external systems and operations, and allow the CFPB to continue to do its job of protecting American consumers.
Demanded answers on how halting agency operations would impact Coloradans. Congresswoman Brittany Pettersen sent a letter to CFPB Acting Director Vought demanding answers on how the suspension of operations will impact working-class families in Colorado.
As the days went on, Trump and Musk continued their assault on the agency and remained unaccountable to the public. Committee Democrats doubled down on efforts to sound the alarm and get answers:
Detailed how Musk’s plan to eliminate the CFPB will destroy the economy. During last week’s full Committee hearing with the Chair of the Federal Reserve, Jerome Powell, Ranking Member Waters and Committee Democrats detailed how Musk’s plan to kill the CFPB would destroy the economy.
Led key House members in blasting CFPB Acting Director Vought’s compliance with Trump’s illegal anti-DEI efforts. The lawmakers sent a letter to the Acting Director demanding clarification on the agency’s compliance with the Trump Administration’s illegal executive order aimed at dismantling DEIA offices and related federal initiatives, which undermines federal law.
Led Democratic members in urging financial services agencies to defy Trump’s illegal anti-DEI efforts. The lawmakers sent a letter to our nation’s financial services agencies denouncing Trump’s unlawful attack on diversity and inclusion and calling on agencies to uphold the statutory diversity and inclusion obligations under the Dodd-Frank Act.
Urged Chairman French Hill to convene a hearing with CFPB Acting Vought. Congresswoman Waters sent a letter to Chair Hill urging the Chair to immediately convene a hearing with CFPB Acting Director Vought on the agency’s semiannual Monetary Policy Report. Under Dodd-Frank, the CFPB Director is required to testify before the Committee on its semiannual report. However, the Committee failed to hold a hearing following the agency’s semiannual report last December, making this hearing overdue and especially urgent, given Musk’s takeover of the CFPB.
Launched a webpage for employees and members of the public to share their CFPB success stories. Congresswoman Waters launched a webpage asking employees and members of the public to share their CFPB success stories. These stories will be compiled and used by Democratic Members of Congress to highlight the CFPB’s impact and emphasize just how detrimental gutting this agency would be.
