John,
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) was created in 2011 as a direct result of the 2008 financial crisis and the Great Recession that came after. The CFPB has been a huge help to consumers – $19.7 billion in consumer relief as of January 20, 2025.1 That relief has helped 195 million consumers via monetary compensation from bad financial actors, canceled debt, and principal reductions.
Ever since the CFPB was created, it’s come under right-wing pressure to limit its scope, eliminate its enforcement capabilities, and shut it down completely. The CFPB has weathered these attacks and won. But now it faces its biggest challenge: Elon Musk.
Just like he has with other government agencies like the IRS, the Federal Aviation Administration, and the National Institutes of Health, Musk has a clear aim to dismantle the CFPB and cause chaos.2
Send a message to your U.S. House Representative now to demand they save the CFPB, not dismantle it.
SEND A LETTER
Musk is not alone in his pursuit to weaken the agency. For example, next Wednesday the House Financial Services Committee will vote on overturning CFPB’s overdraft fee rule, rolling back a measure that would reduce overdraft fees from $35 to $5, returning on average $225 -- $5 billion a year -- to the pockets of families that pay overdraft fees.3 In conjunction with Musk, Congressional Republicans are moving right now to gut the CFPB’s funding and block its enforcement powers. If they succeed, financial predators will have free rein to rip off working people with zero consequences.
Banks will be able to double down on fee hikes, discriminate against Black and Brown communities, and target vulnerable consumers with abusive loans. Abusive credit card fees will proliferate, while Wall Street executives rake in record profits.
No other agency has jurisdiction over the practices of the biggest banks. The CFPB is the only agency that exists to stop this and if the CFPB’s gutting continues, it will be powerless to act.
This is exactly what Wall Street and Musk’s billionaire allies want. They couldn’t kill the CFPB outright, so now they want to starve it from the inside, cutting off enforcement and rolling back consumer protections.
Congress has a choice: stand with consumers or side with Musk and financial predators. We need to sound the alarm on these attacks by billionaire campaign donors – and urge Congress to stand up for all of us.
Send a letter to your U.S. House Representative telling them to stand firm against Musk and save the CFPB.
Thank you for all you do,
Deborah Weinstein
Executive Director, CHN Action
1 Enforcement by the numbers
2 Here are all the agencies that Elon Musk and DOGE have been trying to dismantle so far
3 Overdraft Rule Returns $5 Billion in Big Bank Junk Fees to Consumers’ Pockets
