Russell Vought’s plan to shut down the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has entered its most dangerous phase. The Trump administration has falsely declared that the CFPB’s legally mandated funding is unavailable, opening the door to an unprecedented shutdown of the agency Congress created to protect consumers after the 2008 financial crisis.
The CFPB has returned more than $21 billion to people harmed by illegal banking practices, eliminated junk fees, cracked down on discrimination in lending, and exposed predatory practices across the financial sector.
These protections are only possible because the CFPB is independent and insulated from political manipulation.
Vought is attempting to kill the Bureau. He refused to request funding, paused enforcement, attempted to fire most of the agency’s staff, and advanced fringe legal theories rejected by courts and legal scholars. The administration now claims the CFPB cannot legally receive money from the Federal Reserve, creating a fabricated funding crisis that could shut down the agency by early 2026.
Congress must act now. Courts have slowed some of the most extreme attacks, but those protections will not hold indefinitely. With the case headed toward a divided Supreme Court, lawmakers must intervene to reaffirm the CFPB’s statutory authority and protect the public from a financial marketplace with no oversight.