US Consumer Protection Watchdog Chopra Says He Has Left Role
Scott Bessent was confirmed earlier this week as Treasury chief
Rohit Chopra said he’s in no longer head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the US consumer-protection regulator.
“This letter confirms that my term as CFPB Director has concluded,” he wrote in a letter to US President Donald Trump posted on X
Scott Bessent was confirmed earlier this week as Treasury chief, while Russ Vought is awaiting Senate confirmation to oversee OMB.
Some Republicans want to see an agency head who might take charge of the CFPB and use it to push an agenda that might include protecting everyday Americans from debanking and potential abuses from lending giants.
Others want to eliminate the agency, which has been a political lightning rod since its creation following the 2008 global financial crisis, on the grounds that it lacks accountability and may be duplicative in its mission. The CFPB has been reviled by some Republicans and business groups, while Democrats have touted it as a necessary check on corporate power and a guardian of ordinary Americans.
Chopra has continued to serve in his current role despite Trump having the power to fire him after a 2020 US Supreme Court decision that made the CFPB director an at-will employee without the same protection as the leaders of some other financial regulators. He said last week he is "ready to hand off the baton whenever."
