[[link removed]] Ms. Memo: This Week in Women's Rights
February 26, 2025
From the ongoing fight for abortion rights and access, to elections, to the drive for the Equal Rights Amendment, there are a multitude of battles to keep up with. In this weekly roundup, find the absolute need-to-know news for feminists.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Is Effective and Popular—So Why Do Trump and Musk Want to Shut It Down? [[link removed]]
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(Jemal Countess / Getty Images for MoveOn)
By Martha Burk | We’re a month into Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s new slash-and-burn-the-government-down reign. One major target is the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), the government oversight agency charged with protecting consumers from unfair and unethical practices like predatory lending rates for everything from home mortgages to used cars, junk charges such as “resort” fees at fleabag hotels, and surprise “processing fees” or “closing fees” that weren’t disclosed upfront for loans.
These protections will no longer exist if Trump and his sidekick Musk have their way.
On Feb. 8, acting CFPB director Russell Vought sent an email ordering employees at the consumer watchdog to stop virtually all work—including fighting financial abuse. “‘Effective immediately,” he wrote, “unless expressly approved by the Acting Director or required by law, all employees, contractors and other personnel of the bureau shall … cease all supervision and examination activity.”
CFPB was the brainchild of Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) in the wake of the 2007-2008 housing bubble and financial crisis, which was caused in part by fraudulent mortgage lending. Former President Obama made the bureau a reality, and from the beginning it has attracted lawsuits from large banks and financial industry trade associations.
And it’s no mystery why: The CFPB has been effective. It has obtained nearly $20 billion in financial relief for U.S. consumers in the form of canceled debts, compensation and reduced loans since its founding.
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Weaponizing Aid: How U.S. Policies Undermine Reproductive Health in Humanitarian Crises [[link removed]] Pentagon Reverses Policy of Reimbursement for Abortion Travel—Fighting ‘Wokeness’ in the Military at the Expense of Service Members [[link removed]]
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Justice on Their Terms: Empowering Plaintiffs Through Anonymity [[link removed]] Despite Pleas From Women and Doctors, Texas May Implement Even More Abortion Restrictions [[link removed]]
What we're reading:
Because it's hard to keep up with everything going on in the world right now. Here's what we're reading this week:
* "The kid-friendly policy that’s quietly sweeping the country” — Vox [[link removed]]
[link removed] [[link removed]] Tune in for a new episode of Ms. magazine's podcast, On the Issues with Michele Goodwin on
Apple Podcasts [[link removed]] + Spotify [[link removed]] .
Welcome to The Magazine, our mini-pod, which gives a peek into Ms. magazine’s forthcoming and current issues. In this episode, listeners hear about the Spring 2025 issue—which delves into the feminist resistance to the second Trump administration—as it hits newsstands.
We hope you'll listen, subscribe, rate and review today!
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