WASHINGTON–Under the Trump Administration the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau CFPB) has dismissed many of the lawsuits it had filed under the Biden administration and also reversed settlements—including with Navy Federal—resulting in consumers missing out on as much as $3 billion in restitution, according to a new report.
The analysis, conducted by consumer groups, reveals the CFPB has dropped at least 22 pending enforcement actions against companies it had accused of financial wrongdoing, and also reversed multiple settlements where companies had already agreed to refund affected consumers, according US News & World Report.
Eric Halperin, the CFPB’s former head of enforcement who resigned in February, told US News that in its roughly 14-year history prior to 2025, the CFPB had only once dropped a pending enforcement action, and it had never terminated a settlement.
Settlements at Risk
US News noted that Halperin, who is a visiting senior fellow at the Consumer Federation of America, co-authored a recent report that estimated $360 million owed to consumers as part of settlements is gone or at risk. He told the news outlet that when you add in the dropped lawsuits that were pending, “that’s potentially over $3 billion in harm to consumers that will never be redressed.”
CFPB Execs ‘Bristle’ at Suggestion
US News said that current CFPB officials “bristle at the suggestion” they aren’t carefully reviewing the cases they’ve dismissed and that it has thoroughly reviewed each case.
“The CFPB has been weaponized against the American people and industries that serve them,” CFPB spokesperson Rachel Cauley told US News. “As part of President Trump’s overhaul of this abusive agency, we have reviewed, and where appropriate, dismissed investigations and cases that went after disfavored industries and companies – including cases claiming racial discrimination where no evidence of discrimination exists. In going after companies they didn’t like, the CFPB ended up actually harming the consumers they claim to protect. We are giving the power back to the American people and trying to correct everything Biden and (former CFPB Director Rohit) Chopra and Elizabeth Warren’s CFPB messed up.”
Navy FCU Settlement Dropped
Among the settlements that have been dropped was a case involving Navy Federal, which had agreed to refund $80 million to its members and pay a $15 million fine, which would go into the CFPB’s Civil Penalty Fund, related to its NSF and overdraft policies.
