Trump Attacks on the CFPB Cost Americans at Least $18 Billion in 2025

February 9, 2026 | WASHINGTON, D.C. — Moments ago, members of Congress joined the CFPB Union and advocates to hold a press conference to defend the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and call for the Trump Administration to put borrowers over billionaires. Today’s event comes one year after the Trump Administration took over the CFPB and instructed staff to stop all work.

View the livestream of the event here: https://youtube.com/live/JUnEBdoCh_E?feature=share

The press conference featured Senator Elizabeth Warren (MA); Senator Dick Durbin (IL); Senator Chris Van Hollen (MD); Representative Ayanna Pressley (MA-07); Representative Sean Casten (IL-06); Mike Pierce, Executive Director at Protect Borrowers; Tom Feltner, Associate Director of Consumer Policy at Americans for Financial Reform; Adam Rust, Director of Financial Services at the Consumer Federation of America; Cat Farman, CFPB Union NTEU 335 President; Anne, a member of NTEU 335; Jane Fox, UAW Local 2325; Santiago Sueiro, Senior Policy Analyst at UnidosUS; Diane Thompson, Deputy Director and Chief Advocacy Officer at the National Consumer Law Center; Rob Randhava, Senior Counsel at the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights; and Graciela Aponte-Diaz, Vice President of Community Engagement at the Center for Responsible Lending.

Since taking over the CFPB, the Trump Administration—led by Acting Director Russell Vought—has worked to elevate Wall Street and Silicon Valley priorities at the expense of everyday Americans. The Administration has halted many functions of the CFPB, including its law enforcement arm, which has allowed corporations to get away with billions of dollars in harm and left consumers vulnerable to financial misconduct. Its giveaways to corporate America, like allowing big banks to continue charging Americans huge credit card late fees and overdraft fees, have cost Americans at least $18 billion in 2025. 

The Trump Administration has spent a full year trying to dismantle the CFPB, an effort that has so far been halted by the courts. Following a successful appeal by the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU), the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals granted en banc review and will hear oral argument on February 24, 2026. Today, dozens of state, local, and national organizations across the country that rely on the CFPB in their work also filed an amicus with the court calling the Trump Administration’s moves to destroy the CFPB “an effort to accomplish administratively what could not be accomplished legislatively: the dismantling of an agency created to protect Americans from financial harm.” 

Further Reading

Trump’s attacks on the CFPB are costing Americans billions: Trump’s Consumer Financial Protection Agenda—or Lack Thereof—Has Already Cost Americans More Than $18 Billion

Read the amicus brief by nonprofit veterans, legal services, and consumer organizations in the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit here.

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About Protect Borrowers

Protect Borrowers (formerly Student Borrower Protection Center) is a nonprofit organization led by a team of experts, lawyers, and advocates fighting to build an economy where debt doesn’t limit opportunity. We investigate financial abuses, take predatory companies to court, and push for policies to protect working people from debt traps. We aim to deliver immediate relief to families while building power, driving systemic change, and fighting for racial and economic justice.

Learn more at protectborrowers.org or follow us on social @BorrowerJustice.