To the relief of many taxpayers and consumers, the incoming administration is set to stop the endless regulatory waste and abuse that ran rampant under previous administrations. The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has a unique opportunity to restore sanity to the government and ensure taxpayer resources are being used effectively. Nowhere is this more needed than the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).
The “brainchild” of Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), the CFPB (under Director Rohit Chopra) has been used to punish financial institutions for engaging in activity out of line with the Democratic Party’s agenda. DOGE Head Elon Musk has it right when he says that there are too many duplicative regulatory agencies, and ‘duplicative’ is certainly the word to describe CFPB.
The latest rule is an excellent example of more mission creep by the CFPB. In December, the CFPB proposed a rule to largely restrict the collection and distribution of data necessary to compose credit reports and scores. The agency claims that the rule is needed for national security, but the reality is that this is just another excuse for Chopra to expand the agency's powers without merit and without regard for agency staff’s time or taxpayers’ dollars.
Unsatisfied with protecting consumers—a mission that the CFPB already shares alongside the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice (DOJ) Antitrust Division— Chopra is apparently intent on transforming the agency into the FBI by taking on the role of national security defender. Consumer data must be protected, but this rule ignores the fact that it already is. The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) has protected the privacy, accuracy, and fairness of consumer information for more than fifty years. The CFPB is not Congress. The agency does not and should not have the power to rewrite the FCRA or expand its interpretations, despite Chopra’s best attempts to grant the agency this oversight.
Beyond blatant overreach, this rule would leave both businesses and consumers worse off and risk destabilizing financial markets. By restricting essential data, the proposal would slow economic growth and make it harder for consumers to access mortgages, credit cards, auto loans, and other lines of credit. Administrative costs would also rise significantly.
Moreover, limiting valuable credit information would also make it more burdensome for businesses to validate consumer identities and prevent fraudulent activities. Law enforcement could also face issues accessing information needed to identify fugitives or locate missing people.
This “midnight ruling” is a clear display of how the CFPB under Rohit Chopra operates: wasting taxpayer money on measures that neither serve the public interest nor respect the agency’s mandate. By pushing for overly political, unnecessary, and harmful regulations that are unlikely to see the light of day, the CFPB is squandering resources that could be better utilized elsewhere.
Such regulatory waste and economic harm are precisely what the DOGE was established to eliminate. Taxpayers should no longer be compelled to support the political agendas of regulatory agencies or the ambitions of their leaders, especially when the regulations proposed by such agencies could result in irreparable harm. The CFPB and Director Chopra should get ready for a big change come January.