What to Know About Trump’s Halt to the CFPB

The acting director of the consumer agency put a freeze its activities. Critics say consumer protection should return to banking regulators and the FTC.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in Washington on Oct. 31, 2023. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) was ordered to stop all activities last week under newly minted Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent.

Bessent, who was at the time the acting director of CFPB, put a freeze on all rule-making, enforcement investigations, and litigation against financial institutions, which is part of CFPB’s normal function.