Since 2010, the bureau has secured more than $21 billion for consumers in disputes with financial companies.
PHOENIX — A former Vice President at Morgan Stanley and Merrill Lynch is warning against a Trump plan to potentially eliminate the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
Steven Conners now runs a Scottsdale wealth management firm and routinely speaks to national news outlets about financial matters. Conners says although he voted for Trump, he believes eliminating the CFPB is the wrong move.
“Cutting away fat makes sense. No one wants a bloated government,” Conners said. “But I think that it’s a mistake to take away an agency that is working to prevent things like robo-lending, excessive lending and lies.”
Congress created the CFPB after passing the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. It is intended to enforce consumer protection laws and investigate complaints about financial companies. Since 2010, the CFPB has secured more than $21 billion for consumers in disputes, an amount that supporters point out is far more than what it costs to run the agency.
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“If you take away that protection for consumers, I’m not saying we’re going to have another financial crisis; however, does it increase the odds,” Conners said.
Many conservatives have argued over the years the CFPB oversteps its authority. Musk said in a social media post it must be “deleted” and the White House released a statement calling it “another woke weaponized arm of the bureaucracy that leverages its power against certain industries and individuals.”
While the Washington D.C. office of the CFPB remains closed, two lawsuits filed by federal employee unions are making their way through court. One asks a judge to prevent the elimination of the CFPB. On Tuesday, two top officials at the CFPB resigned.
“I think both sides of the aisle should want a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau for the American citizens,” Conners said.
Trump has granted Musk access to the agency’s data systems, including sensitive bank records, according to Bloomberg News. An original architect of the CFPB, Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren, alleges Musk has a conflict of interest as the head of DOGE because Musk has businesses that are or could be subject to scrutiny by the agency in the future.
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