WASHINGTON — A new report by Senate Banking Committee Democrats argues that actions by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in 2025 under the Trump administration and its acting director have cost American consumers up to $19 billion by retreating from enforcement, rescinding rules and sidelining critical consumer protections.
The 16-page “CFPB Year in Review” report, released Monday by ranking member Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), asserts that the bureau was created after the 2008 financial crisis to protect consumers from unfair, deceptive and abusive financial practices, returning more than $21 billion to harmed individuals since its founding.
But the report concludes that 2025 marked a sharp reversal of that mission after Donald Trump took office and installed Russell Vought as acting CFPB director. It says the bureau dismissed at least 22 enforcement actions — covering more than $3.5 billion in alleged consumer harm — dropped or withdrew dozens of guidance items and pulled back key regulations and consumer complaint handling.
‘America Less Affordable’
“These changes have made America less, not more, affordable,” the report states, charging that abandoning enforcement and rules that would have provided relief has translated into substantial financial harm for families.
Democrats argue that the overhaul has also weakened the bureau’s consumer complaint process and hindered protections such as a cap on bank overdraft fees that had been expected to save households billions annually.
The report echoed a Government Accountability Office review that cited transparency issues surrounding the bureau’s internal changes and restructuring.
Republican lawmakers and the CFPB’s leadership have defended the changes as necessary to curb regulatory overreach, arguing that the Bureau’s activism under previous leadership imposed unnecessary burdens on financial institutions.
The full report can be found here.
