US (AFR) : The CFPB needs a watchdog, not a hand-picked bank executive.

 

Russell Vought tried to kill the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. When he couldn’t shut it down, his CFPB dropped cases, closed investigations, and eased consequences for financial companies accused of cheating people. Senator Elizabeth Warren warned that the damage has cost families as much as $26 billion. Now Trump wants Brian Johnson to run the agency, and Vought has endorsed him. Johnson has moved between government and jobs representing the financial industry. Since 2024, he has worked at Capital One, one of the companies the CFPB is supposed to oversee. In 2025, the CFPB dropped a $2 billion case against Capital One. Senator Warren has asked what role, if any, Johnson played in that decision. Senators should demand an answer. They should also ask why someone paid by major financial firms should be trusted to restore the watchdog Vought spent 18 months wrecking. This is what Vought 2.0 could mean: the CFPB stays open, but the companies it is supposed to police keep getting a pass. The Senate can stop Johnson before he takes control. Senators must vote NO when asked to advance his nomination and NO if he reaches a confirmation vote. Tell your senators to vote NO on cloture and NO on Brian Johnson’s confirmation. SIGN & SEND The CFPB exists because families need somewhere to turn when a bank charges illegal fees, a lender traps them in debt, or a financial company refuses to return money it took. Before the Trump-Vought takeover, the agency had secured more than $21 billion in relief for people harmed by financial corporations. Those results happen when there is a director willing to investigate powerful companies and make them answer for what they have done. Vought moved the CFPB in the opposite direction. Cases that could have delivered relief were abandoned while financial companies benefited. Johnson’s nomination would put an industry insider at the head of that weakened agency. His Capital One job and the dismissed case raise questions senators cannot brush aside. Vought’s endorsement makes the stakes even clearer: the man who tried to dismantle the CFPB wants Johnson to lead it. Senators must block Johnson at both stages. They must vote NO on cloture to stop his nomination from advancing, and NO on confirmation to keep Vought’s preferred successor from taking control of the CFPB. Tell your senators to reject Brian Johnson at every step. Vote NO on cloture and NO on confirmation. Thank you for standing with the families who need a CFPB willing to fight for them. - Tom. Tom Feltner (he/him) Associate Director of Consumer Policy Americans for Financial Reform. Support the campaign

Americans for Financial Reform