The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s curious resurgence

Politico ^ | 07/05/2026 04:00 PM EDT | Aiden Reiter

[E. Pluribus Unum]

A newly nominated director and a flurry of recent actions have some concerned that the administration is weaponizing the agency.

The Trump administration seemed on the verge of shutting down the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau earlier this year after trying to fire its staff, terminating its office lease, ending nearly all its work and refusing to fund it.

But now, with efforts to dismantle the agency held up in federal courts, it appears to be coming back to life, with Acting Director Russell Vought using it as an instrument to carry out conservative policies.

In recent weeks, the White House nominated a veteran of the CFPB in the first Trump administration, Brian Johnson, as director. The agency leased new office space in Southwest Washington and called back employees who had been working from home. It’s also ramping up supervision of small financial institutions that serve low-income communities and has released a rule that makes it harder for immigrants to get loans.

The agency, created by Congress after the 2008 financial crisis to protect consumers from corporate abuse, has long been a target of Republicans, who have criticized it as the brainchild of liberal Sen. Elizabeth Warren and argue that it has been too aggressive in supervising companies.

CFPB spokesperson Rachel Cauley said Vought’s actions are “bringing the agency back to operating within statute and away from breaking the law,” and right-sizing enforcement to correct for the “thuggery” of previous administrations.

Cauley did not make either Vought or Johnson available for comment.

Vought, who is also White House budget director, has said the agency was weaponized by past administrations to target small financial institutions.

In his first months as director, he tried to terminate 90 percent of the staff and refused to ask for new funding. Both...

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TOPICS: Business/Economy; Government
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