Tuesday Topic: 'CFPB RIP'

Any notions the Trump administration might use the CFPB to push a populist agenda were dashed last Friday when Elon Musk identified the agency as DOGE's next target, tweeting "CFPB RIP" accompanied by a gravestone emoji. 

Office of Management and Budget Chief Russ Vought, who was recently named acting director of the agency despite protests from Senate Democrats, issued a stop-work order to the CFPB's supervisory and enforcement teams over the weekend. He also announced a plan to shut down the agency's funding. "The CFPB has been a woke & weaponized agency against disfavored industries and individuals for a long time," Vought tweeted over the weekend. "This must end." The agency's X account was also deleted, and its website was unplugged.

Some policy experts are warning of the risks of turning the lights out at the CFPB, but Republicans have long wanted to shutter the agency, and it appears they will attempt to do so again.

It's uncertain how long this situation will last. After all, if it were really this simple, doesn't anyone think Mick Mulvaney would have tried this several years ago? (Indeed, Mulvaney himself has been warning Republicans this tactic won't work, according to an article by Punchbowl News.) The question is whether and how long it will take courts to act. In the meantime, will state regulators take a greater role on consumer protection issues?