Public Citizen just filed another lawsuit against the Trump regime. This is our 23rd lawsuit against the administration since Trump returned to power. (And there will be more.)

We are suing to stop the Trump administration from completely defunding the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which was established after the 2008 financial crisis to keep everyday Americans from getting ripped off by Big Banks.

Here are the basics about this latest suit:

• In 2008, Wall Street’s reckless greed set off a worldwide financial crisis. In response, Congress established a new federal agency, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), to protect the American people from wrongful or unfair conduct by Big Banks and other giant financial institutions.

• Public Citizen played a major role in the creation of the CFPB, which has recovered billions for everyday Americans and helped bring more fairness and transparency to the financial marketplace.

• Congress very intentionally made the CFPB’s funding independent from the political gamesmanship of the annual federal budgeting process. Instead, the CFPB is funded through the Federal Reserve System.

• While Trump has openly declared his desire to “totally eliminate” the CFPB, the administration cannot lawfully dismantle a federal agency created by statute. The attempt to do so is in defiance of the Constitution’s separation of powers.

• Back in February, Trump installed one of his top lieutenants — a man named Russell Vought — as acting director of the CFPB.

• If that name rings a bell, it’s probably because Vought was one of the primary architects of the infamous Project 2025 manifesto, which is essentially functioning as a how-to guide for the Trump regime’s authoritarianism.

• Vought believes the Trump regime can ignore Congress, the Constitution, and the very idea of checks and balances that is the foundation of our system of government.

• In October, Vought announced his intention to outright shut down the CFPB within a matter of months.

• Now — while acknowledging that the CFPB will run out of money in early January — Vought says he does not have to comply with the statutory requirement that he request funding for the CFPB from the Federal Reserve.

The Trump regime’s illegal attempt to mothball the CFPB is just one more example — and there are too many to count — that Donald Trump is not looking out for the average person. Trump hates the CFPB precisely because the CFPB helps everyday Americans fight the abuse, fraud, and corruption by which Trump and the plutocrat class maintain their power and wealth.

Public Citizen was proud to play a role in creating the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau 15 years ago. And we are proud to be taking the Trump regime to court (again) to preserve the CFPB now.

MORE ABOUT TAKING THE TRUMP REGIME TO COURT

Public Citizen is doing everything we can — within our modest means — to fight what the Trump regime is doing to our country. It’s David and Goliath for sure, but we will never back down. Even where we haven’t (yet) notched definitive victories in court, we are slowing down the regime and making it work a lot harder in pursuit of its desire for absolute power.

This is the 23rd lawsuit we have filed (so far) against the administration since Trump returned to power. Are these lawsuits alone enough to fully defeat Trump and MAGA? Of course not. But are they a meaningful part of the pushback needed to collectively save our country? No doubt about it.

What you and Public Citizen are doing together matters. What hundreds of other organizations, big and small, are doing matters. What millions upon millions of our fellow Americans are doing matters. We believe that to our core. We take solace in that. And we draw inspiration from that. We hope you do, too.

If you can, please donate today to support Public Citizen’s work standing up to the Trump regime.

Anything you can chip in — $5 or $25, $50 or $100, $500 or even more — will help at such a critical moment.

CONTRIBUTE NOW
Or join our popular Monthly Giving program (if you haven’t already) to help make sure we have the ongoing financial resources to fight Trump day after day after day.

If you’ve donated to Public Citizen already, thank you. If a donation is not right, we understand. Either way, thank you for being part of Public Citizen.

For progress,

- Lisa Gilbert & Robert Weissman, Co-Presidents of Public Citizen
 
 
Public Citizen | 1600 20th Street NW | Washington DC 20009 | Unsubscribe