AlterNet / Common Dreams: The 'more sinister' reason behind Musk's attack on consumer protection

[Dennis Donovan]

AlterNet / Common Dreams - The 'more sinister' reason behind Musk's attack on consumer protection

John Queally and Common Dreams
February 09, 2025

The Trump administration's multi-pronged attack on the CFPB continues.

President Donald Trump's new acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Russell Vought, told the agency to cease nearly all its operations in a series of orders on Saturday night and the move is not just a gift to the broader financial industry and large Wall Street banks, say critical observers, but also a major potential gift to billionaire Elon Musk, the world's wealthiest person, who has a major vested interest in the agency's demise.

Vought, the right-wing architect of the anti-government Project 2025 who also now heads the powerful Office of Management and Budget, confirmed Saturday night he had taken control of the agency in an email to staff that called on them to halt most of their work.

"Musk wants to use the government to put more in his pockets. This is a blatant conflict of interest." —Sen. Ed. Markey

According to reporting by NBC News, which obtained a copy of the email,

Employees were instructed to "cease all supervision and examination activity," "cease all stakeholder engagement," pause all pending investigations, not issue any public communications and pause "enforcement actions."Vought also told employees not to "approve or issue any proposed or final rules or formal or informal guidance" and to "suspend the effective dates of all final rules that have been issued or published but that have not yet become effective," among other directives listed in the email.
He said in the email that the directives are effective immediately, unless he approves an exception or a certain activity is required by law.

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1. musk and trump are targeting the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

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