President Trump confirmed today that he plans to close down the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which he said “was set up to destroy some very good people.”
CFPB staff were ordered to cease all activities and stay home as their bureau’s offices in Washington, D.C., would be closed this week. During a White House press conference, Trump said the CFPB was “very important to get rid of.”
“It was also a waste,” he said. “There was a bad group of people running it … That was a vicious group of people. They destroyed a lot of people.”
The CFPB is unique among federal agencies in that its funding comes directly from the Federal Reserve based on a request from the bureau’s director. Acting Director Russ Vought, who is also director of the Office of Management and Budget, said he will not ask the Fed for the CFPB’s next appropriation. He called the bureau “a woke and weaponized agency against disfavored industries and individuals for a long time.”
The CFPB was established by Congress following the 2008 financial crisis and it was not immediately clear whether the president has the legal authority to eliminate the bureau without congressional action.
