Today, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), the top Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, led Committee Democrats in introducing H. Res. 259, a Resolution of Inquiry (ROI) demanding information related to the Trump-Musk’s Administration’s illegal shutdown of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. This shutdown followed the Trump Administration's decision to illegally grant Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency team unfettered access to the agency's systems and applications, which contain highly sensitive personal and business information of Americans. A ROI makes a direct request of the President or head of an executive department demanding they provide factual information in the Administration’s possession.

The seven letters Congresswoman Waters sent to the Administration regarding the illegal shutdown of the Consumer Bureau have gone unanswered, denying transparency to the American public and preventing Congress from conducting its oversight responsibilities. The illegal shutdown of the CFPB has already caused significant harm to consumers, such as recent decisions by the Office of Management and Budget Director, Russell Vought to drop a series of pending lawsuits, including one against Capital One for allegedly swindling customers out of more than $2 billion in interest payments, and another against big banks for allegedly allowing fraud and scams to proliferate via Zelle.

Furthermore, a direct request from Congresswoman Waters to Chairman Hill to hold a statutorily required hearing with CFPB Acting Director Vought was disregarded.

“Every day that passes without answers about Trump and his co-President, Elon Musk’s cruel and unlawful CFPB shutdown, American families are left even more vulnerable to the predatory actions of bad actors in the financial industry,” said Congresswoman Waters. “I called on Chairman Hill to hold a hearing with the Acting Director of the agency, but was unfortunately told through the press that our Committee would have to wait for the Senate to confirm Trump’s nominee before we could have any oversight. Well, hard-working families don’t have the time to wait for answers while fraudsters and predatory lenders continue to exploit and rip them off with impunity to further enrich themselves. I am proud to lead Committee Democrats in introducing this Resolution of Inquiry which will ensure that both Congress and our nation’s consumers receive the urgent answers needed behind Trump’s reckless decision to hand the keys to the Consumer Bureau to 20-year-olds and an unelected billionaire who clearly does not have the interest of our nation’s consumers in mind.”

Committee Democrats are requesting information related to:

• The identities of Elon Musk’s DOGE team accessing sensitive data held by CFPB;
  
• Details on the systems and sensitive consumer and business data Musk’s DOGE team has gained access to;
  
• The timeline and process through which Musk’s DOGE team was given access to this confidential information;
• A list of conflicts of interest identified regarding individuals who have gained access to sensitive data held by CFPB and steps taken to mitigate these conflicts; and
• Information about CFPB personnel and the impact of the stop-work order compared to the CFPB's operations before the Trump-Musk takeover.
  

Committee Democrats introduced this resolution in response to a long list of illegal actions taken in recent weeks by the Trump Administration and Musk to eliminate the CFPB, including: sweeping stop-work orders preventing CFPB staff from doing their jobs, including supervising the largest banks for consumer compliance and finalizing 38 pending enforcement cases; firing 10% of CFPB employees with plans to fire up to 95% of the staff; attempting to defund the CFPB; closing the CFPB headquarters; canceling leases for CFPB regional offices; and granting access to Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency to large amounts of sensitive data on consumers and financial institutions, including payment apps that Musk’s X platform will soon compete with.

The House Financial Services Committee has 14 legislative days to act on and report the resolution to the House floor. If the Majority fails to report this resolution favorably to the House within 14 legislative days, it will become “privileged,” meaning the matter will immediately be taken up on the House floor.

Committee Democrats who signed onto the ROI with Congresswoman Waters, include: Representatives Nydia M. Velázquez, Brad Sherman, Gregory W. Meeks, David Scott, Stephen F. Lynch, Al Green, Emanuel Cleaver, II, Bill Foster, Joyce Beatty, Juan Vargas, Vicente Gonzalez, Sean Casten, Ayanna Pressley, Rashida Tlaib, Ritchie Torres, Sylvia Garcia, Nikema Williams, Brittany Pettersen, Cleo Fields, Janelle Bynum, Sam Liccardo.

Background:

This follows an amicus brief Congresswoman Waters led with over 200 Democrats in defending the Consumer Bureau, and a litany of other actions Committee Democrats have taken in recent weeks to combat the shutdown, including:

• On February 6, 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 7, 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.
  
  
• On February 8, 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.
  
  
• On February 8, Congresswoman Waters issued 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.
  
  
• On February 8, 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.
  
  
• On February 9, 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.
  
  
• On February 10, 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.
  
  
• On February 12, 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.
  
  
• On February 12, 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.
  
  
• On February 12, during a 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.
  
  
• On February 14, Congresswoman Waters led key lawmakers in 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.
  
  
• On February 14, Congresswoman Waters and key 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.
  
  
• On February 14, 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.
  
  
• On February 12, Congresswoman Waters sent a letter to Chairman 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.
  
  
• On February 19, 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.
  
  
• On March 7, Congresswoman Waters issued a statement in response to the Trump Administration dropping pro-consumer lawsuits.
  
  
• On March 19, Congresswoman Waters sent a letter to Acting Director Vought following the CFPB’s unlawful order to stop the agency’s anti-discrimination work.
  
  

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