Elon Musk calls for abolishing consumer finance watchdog CFPB — a longtime GOP target

By New York Post (U.S.) | Created at 2024-11-27 20:09:25 | Updated at 2024-11-27 22:47:19 2 hours ago
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Billionaire Elon Musk, tasked with slashing government costs by President-elect Donald Trump, on Wednesday called for the elimination of a federal regulatory agency charged with protecting consumers in the financial sector.

The comment on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) follows Musk’s recent appointment to a government efficiency role, further amplifying the influence of the world’s richest man, who donated millions of dollars to help Trump get elected.

“Delete CFPB. There are too many duplicative regulatory agencies,” Musk said in a post on social media platform X.

Elon Musk and Donald Trump“Delete CFPB. There are too many duplicative regulatory agencies,” Elon Musk posted on X. Getty Images

The CFPB did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Musk and former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy will co-lead a newly created Department of Government Efficiency, an entity Trump indicated will operate outside the confines of government.

The CFPB was created as part of the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial reform law to police and regulate consumer financial products following the 2008 crisis and only Congress has the power to eliminate it.

Separately, Reuters reported on Wednesday, citing sources, that the consumer finance watchdog is moving ahead with rulemaking in the final weeks of Joe Biden’s Democratic administration, in a bid to advance consumer protections before Trump overhauls the agency.

Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Rohit Chopra and President Biden in 2023.The CFPB was created as part of the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial reform law to police and regulate consumer financial products following the 2008 crisis. CFPB director Rohit Chopra and President Biden in 2023. REUTERS

Republicans have sought to curtail or eliminate the agency from the outset, but legislative efforts to either scrap it altogether, or place stricter limits on its funding and leadership structure, have failed to gain traction in the years since its creation.

Banking industry executives and lawyers also anticipate the incoming Trump administration will likely place significant limits on the CFPB.

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