Trump CFPB Dropped Cases as Consumer Complaints Rose, Analysis Finds

From mid-2012 through the start of 2025, the CFPB averaged about 30 enforcement actions a year and helped recover more than $21 billion for consumers, according to the analysis. Complaints rose against 17 of the 23 companies whose cases the bureau stopped pursuing. Former CFPB chief technologist Erie Meyer said consumers were “getting screwed twice”: first by companies, then by an agency that should protect them. Former senior counsel Austin Hinkle characterized the dismissals as “corporate pardons” for firms investigated under the Biden administration.

Among the cases dropped was a February 2025 lawsuit accusing Capital One of concealing higher-interest savings accounts from customers, costing millions of people more than $2 billion in interest. The company agreed to a $425 million class-action settlement in April. That month, the bureau also dismissed a case against Berkshire Hathaway subsidiary Vanderbilt over mortgages regulators said low-income families could not afford. In March, it dropped a case alleging JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Wells Fargo failed to prevent fraud on Zelle, with consumers allegedly losing $870 million. The dismissals were with prejudice, barring a future CFPB from reopening the cases.

The bureau also dropped cases involving payday lending, fees charged to delivery drivers to access their earnings, collection of discharged student debts, and treatment of elderly and disabled veterans. It canceled a Navy Federal Credit Union settlement over overdraft fees. A Senate Banking Committee Democrats’ report said the administration had also terminated or weakened 23 enforcement orders and estimated that reduced CFPB enforcement cost consumers $19 billion during Trump’s first year. Wise’s fine was cut from $2 million to $45,000; Apple and US Bank were released from enhanced oversight early.

Many changes took place under Russell Vought, who called the CFPB “a woke and weaponized agency” and said he wanted to close it. A federal court blocked his April 2025 attempt to fire about 90% of its workforce. Vought left the acting director role in August; Mark Paoletta, his former chief legal officer, now leads the bureau. Democrats have pledged investigations. Elizabeth Warren said she would prioritize accountability, while Representative Bill Foster told The Guardian that lawmakers planned subpoenas, hearings and legislative action.