Treasure Secretary Scott Bessent has been named the Acting Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), the bureau announced today. Bessent quickly instructed the agency to “to stop all rulemaking, communications, litigation, and other activities,” reports Bloomberg Law.
A source inside the CFPB told Bloomberg Law that his order “appeared to shut down the CFPB altogether for the time being.” If that’s true, it could mean the bureau no longer plans to move forward with a pending rule set to go into effect March 3rd that would forbid data brokers from selling sensitive personal information, including Social Security numbers. The CFPB did not immediately respond to noti.group’s request for comment.
The news comes as Bessent, who Trump named Treasury Secretary last week, is under scrutiny over his role in reportedly allowing Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to access the US federal payment system. Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren sent him a letter looking for an explanation as to why he let that happen.
Bessent, a former hedge fund manager, says he looks “forward to working with the CFPB to advance President Trump’s agenda to lower costs for the American people and accelerate economic growth.”
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
