CFPB halts work after Trump appoints Bessent as acting head

President Donald Trump on Monday appointed Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent as the acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, a powerful watchdog agency whose operations Bessent immediately halted pending a review.

In an email to agency staff sent from the “acting director,” Bessent ordered the bureau to cease all work to craft regulations, issue guidance, conduct investigations or provide “public communications of any type,” citing a need to “promote consistency” with the goals of the new administration, according to a copy obtained by the Washington Post.

The missive appeared to herald a stark shift to come at the CFPB, which Congress formed in the wake of the 2008 banking crisis to protect consumers from unfair, deceptive or predatory financial practices. Republicans broadly have threatened to defund the agency or neuter its powers – and some, including tech billionaire Elon Musk, who is running a broad effort to slash government spending, have called on lawmakers to “delete” it entirely.

The watchdog had been active and aggressive in its oversight under its previous director, Rohit Chopra, who was named to the post by President Joe Biden in 2021. Trump fired Chopra on Saturday before his term was scheduled to end.

A CFPB spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment