US (AMERICANS FOR FINANCIAL REFORM) : The CFPB is UNDER SIEGE. We’re fighting back.

 

We stood outside the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit as judges heard arguments in a case that could determine the future of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Consumer advocates and CFPB workers rallied together as the Trump administration continues to push an aggressive plan to restructure, defund, and slash up to 90% of the agency’s workforce. Acting Director Russell Vought has taken steps to halt much of the CFPB’s work and pursue widespread layoffs and cutbacks on critical services, moves that have triggered ongoing litigation by the National Treasury Employees Union challenging those actions. Americans for Financial Reform is proud to support CFPB workers. We coordinated a coalition letter signed by nearly 100 national, state, and local organizations demanding that the Senate stand up for a strong, robust, and independent CFPB. That letter makes clear that the future of the CFPB is on the line and with it the only federal agency dedicated entirely to protecting people from financial exploitation. The CFPB has returned tens of billions of dollars to people who were cheated by big banks, payday lenders, student loan servicers, mortgage companies, and credit reporting giants. It has taken action on junk fees, racial discrimination in lending, predatory payday loans, and medical debt abuses. Weakening the CFPB hands power straight back to the corporations that caused so much harm in the first place. We are mobilizing legal experts, policy advocates, coalition partners, and grassroots supporters to defend this agency in the courts and in Congress. But this fight takes resources. Can you make a contribution today to help us defend the CFPB and protect its independence? Donate Now Nearly 100 organizations have publicly called on the Senate to defend the CFPB’s funding and structure. This is a broad coalition of consumer advocates, civil rights groups, and public interest leaders who understand that without the CFPB, predatory lenders and abusive financial actors will operate unchecked. As I said at the rally in February, if the CFPB is stripped down to a shell, enforcement actions stall. Investigations slow. Rules go unenforced. Families facing foreclosure, veterans targeted by scams, students buried in debt, and workers hit with illegal junk fees are left to fend for themselves. That is exactly what Wall Street has wanted for years. AFR has defended the CFPB since its creation. We fought for its strongest rules. We mobilized to protect it from previous attacks. And we are not backing down now. But we cannot do it without sustained support from people who believe in a fair financial system. Contribute $5 to help Americans for Financial Reform defend a strong, robust, and independent CFPB now. Let’s keep organizing, keep speaking out, and keep defending the CFPB until it has the full strength and independence consumers deserve. - Tom. Tom Feltner (he/him) Associate Director of Consumer Policy Americans for Financial Reform Support the campaign

Americans for Financial Reform