How Congress Affects Your Wallet: CFPB Cuts Explained

The Defunding of the CFPB: How Congress Gift-Wrapped Financial Chaos for Your Wallet

Congress recently passed the One Big Beautiful Bill, and like politicians tend to do, they sneak paragraphs into 900-page bills that no one reads. Of course, this time, the focus was the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), which the Republican majority opposed as well as Wall Street, corporations, and creditors alike. Why would they like an organization that gives us, the consumer, more rights?

So, here we are with an agency that was crucial in protecting consumer rights, which is now working with a 50% budget reduction.  So, what does this mean for the everyday consumer?

Well, that’s a long list, but just to give you an idea, the CFPB monitors predatory lenders, shady credit card fees, and junk financial products. They also file lawsuits on behalf of consumers, but you can kiss that goodbye now. With half of their budget gone, I’m sure their response time by consumers will take much longer, assuming any issue is ever resolved.

So moving forward, definitely check the fine print with a Hubble telescope and a team of lawyers, because “no hidden fees” probably means plenty of hidden fees.

Now, this doesn’t mean states can’t fill in the gap and states do have their own consumer protection division, but leaning on the side of skepticism, I’m going to predict that what states do depends on whether they happen to be a blue or red colored state.

• Get Ready for the Red Rural Recession

If this move feels like Congress just told consumers, “You’re on your own,” that’s because they did.

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Please note that the information on this site does not constitute legal advice and should be considered for informational purposes only.