Warren: Trump-Musk Attack on CFPB One of Biggest Cons on the American People in Recent History
“President Trump ran on lowering costs for families on ‘day one.’ But instead of trying to lower costs, he and his co-president Elon Musk are putting an end to the millions of dollars this little agency delivers for working people every day.”
Washington, DC – Today, Senator Elizabeth Warren is convening United States Senators for a forum on the “Trump-Musk Attack on American Consumers.” The forum will focus on the consequences of President Trump’s and Elon Musk’s efforts to eliminate the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) - an agency that has returned over $21 billion to families scammed by big banks and giant corporations. These efforts to shut down the consumer agency are the opposite of delivering on President Trump's promise to lower costs on “day one.”
Below are Senator Warren’s opening remarks:
We are here for “The Trump-Musk Attack on American Consumers,” hearing.
Our focus today will be on what could be one of biggest cons in recent history: the theft of billions of dollars from American consumers.
Elon Musk and Donald Trump are going all out to kill the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and make it easier to cheat people out of their hard-earned money. President Trump ran on lowering costs for families on “day one.” Those were his words. But instead of trying to lower costs, he and his co-president Elon Musk are putting an end to the millions of dollars this little agency delivers every single day for working people. For everyone who gets scammed or cheated because the CFPB cops have been taken off the beat, costs have gone up—not down.
The CFPB has been a spectacular success, uncovering over $21 billion in scams and returning that money directly to American consumers. Since it was established in 2011, it has also put important rules in place to simplify mortgage paperwork, run a complaint hotline that has helped more than 7 million people, and beat back rip-off artists of all kinds.
But two weeks ago, Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, woke up and tweeted, “CFPB, RIP.” Over the next 72 hours, the Trump Administration—in conjunction with Mr. Musk’s DOGE hackers—stopped the agency’s work, shut down the website, and locked staff out of their offices.
The CFPB has been sidelined, but it is not dead.
First, the actions by the Trump Administration to shut down the CFPB are plainly illegal. Congress passed the legislation that created the CFPB. Congress, and only Congress, can shut it down. Advocates are in court right now asking judges to enforce the law, and I’m confident they are going to win.
Second, as more Americans hear about the agency, there is a growing, fierce backlash.
Trump and Musk aren’t shutting down the CFPB because it’s good for consumers—they are doing it to advance their own financial interests.
The play is not hard to see. Elon Musk wants to offer a new “X Money” feature on his social media platform. But some other apps are already out there—and Musk would have to compete against them. By seizing control of the agency, Musk can now root through all the CFPB’s confidential data that DOGE has accessed on these potential competitors.
As Musk launches his new app, he faces oversight from the CFPB. His plan seems to be to eliminate the watchdog, which would leave him free to scam and steal however he wants.
And that is why I invited Musk to this hearing today. Congress and the public deserve answers about why he is trying to kill the CFPB—and answers about what he would gain personally if he is able to shut the agency down.
No surprise: Musk is a no-show. He’s too afraid to show up in person and defend his actions. He hides behind a gusher of silly tweets. But Elon, in case you’re watching from your bunker, or your Oval Office, it’s not too late. We’re going to be here for another hour and a half. We saved a seat for you and we all have plenty of questions.
Even without Elon, I’m liking our panel today. We’ve got Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell to tell us how the CFPB works with partners all across the country to stop consumers from getting ripped off.
We’ve got Lorelei Salas, who recently served as the CFPB’s Director of Supervision and was responsible for making sure that the agency was doing the job of monitoring the biggest banks and lenders in the country so that they follow the law.
We’ve got Marette Gillen, a mortgage originator who is well-versed in the CFPB’s work to protect homeowners from abusive practices—and to stabilize our mortgage markets, stopping the next big housing crash.
And we’ve got Stacey McCall, an Army vet who was trapped in a doom loop with an auto lender, unable to transfer her title back home after her assignment overseas ended. She worked for nearly a year to resolve it, unsuccessfully, until the CFPB came to the rescue.
There are thousands of stories just like this from middle-class Americans—of all political stripes.
We released a new report today on the consumer complaints left in limbo by the Trump Administration’s illegal shutdown of the CFPB. We found that the agency is helping thousands and thousands of fewer people every week with complaints about getting ripped off.
We see what Trump and Musk are up to, and we are fighting to put a stop to it.
I appreciate all of our witnesses being here to join us today, and I appreciate your showing of why this fight matters.
And Elon—if you’re out there watching, give your thumbs a rest and show up and answer some real questions. We’ll be saving a seat for you.
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