Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) slammed President Donald Trump and Director of the Office of Management and Budget, Russ Vought, for undermining the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in favor of big financial institutions on Wall Street that it supervises.
Donald Trump Is ‘Wall Street First’
On Monday, in a post on X, Warren accused Trump and Vought of sidelining “the financial cop on the beat” that has been protecting consumers from scams.
This comes following the bureau’s decision last week, under acting director Vought, to require Supervision Division Examiners to read a “Humility Pledge” to each financial organization that they supervise, at the beginning of their examinations.
The changes are intended, according to the Bureau’s statement, to make exams more “respectful, prompt, professional, and under budget.”
Warren framed the move as the administration’s attempt to “kiss up to the big banks,” while accusing Trump of being “Wall Street First.”
Consumer Watchdog Undermined
Warren, who played an instrumental role in the CFPB’s creation in response to the 2008 financial crisis, has been a vocal defender of the institution in recent months.
Earlier this month, she accused the administration of attempting to gut the agency that was responsible for returning $21 billion to Americans who were “scammed.” This comes after a court ruling declared the agency’s funding mechanism to be illegal.
The Trump administration has been vocal in its opposition to the agency, with Vought stating that it had “weaponize[d] the tools of financial laws” to target smaller lenders, rather than protecting consumers, during an appearance on “The Charlie Kirk Show” earlier this year.
Close to 90% of the agency’s staff have been laid off in recent months, as part of Trump’s push to minimize government intervention in the financial markets.
CFPB’s union members have since criticized Vought’s “humility pledge,” saying that his “press release and pledge are incredibly disrespectful to Supervision's dedicated workers and misunderstands or misconstrues Supervision's prior work.”
Crypto Leaders, Financial ETFs Celebrate Move
Leading ETFs with exposure to banking and financial services, such as the Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLF), the Invesco KBW Bank ETF (NASDAQ:KBWB) and the iShares U.S. Financials ETF (NYSE:IYF), are expected to be key beneficiaries of this move.
This comes amid frequent clashes between the agency and the big banks on issues ranging from overdraft fees to consumer lending practices.
Prominent crypto industry leaders have similarly cheered the decision, with Brian Armstrong, the CEO of Coinbase Global Inc. (NASDAQ:COIN), saying that it was “100% the right call,” while referring to the CFPB as an “activist organization that has done enormous harm to the country.”
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