Trump Removes Biden-Appointed Head of Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
President Donald Trump is dismantling the remnants of former President Joe Biden’s administration.
When a new president takes office, it’s common for officials from the previous administration to step down. However, some choose to remain until they are dismissed.
Rohit Chopra was one such official, but last week, Trump officially removed him from his position as head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).
On Saturday, the former director shared a message on his X account, expressing gratitude to his colleagues.
“It’s been an honor serving as your (Consumer Financial Protection Bureau) Director. Every day, Americans from across the country shared their ideas and experiences with us. You helped us hold powerful companies & their executives accountable for breaking the law, and you made our work better. Thank you,” he wrote, also including a formal letter addressed to the president in which he expressed appreciation and pledged to support the next director.
Trump had previously appointed Chopra as a Democratic member of the CFPB board during his first term in the White House.
Chopra indicated he was willing to stay if the president desired, but instead, he was removed from his position, as reported by Newsweek.
His dismissal followed calls from industry critics urging his removal.
“The longer Director Chopra stays, the harder it will be for this pro-growth administration to undo the politically-driven, government-price setting agenda that former President [Joe] Biden’s appointee has engaged in over the last several years at the Bureau,” said Consumer Bankers Association press secretary Weston Loyd.
Richard Hunt, executive chairman of the Electronic Payments Coalition, criticized Chopra’s leadership, stating that his tenure “was marked by witch-hunts and political weaponization” of the agency. Hunt also claimed that Chopra’s policies limited access to financial credit for “vulnerable consumers.”
On the other hand, Democrats argue that Chopra’s leadership led to billions of dollars being returned to American consumers.
California Representative Maxine Waters, the ranking minority member on the House Financial Services Committee, issued a sharp response condemning the decision.
“President Trump’s decision to fire CFPB Director Rohit Chopra marks the end of an era of strong consumer protection and the beginning of a plan to end this important agency. Since taking the helm of the CFPB in 2021, Director Chopra has worked tirelessly to ensure the agency fulfills its critical mission of protecting American families in the financial marketplace,” Waters stated.
“In the face of repeated and coordinated attacks, Director Chopra’s fearless advocacy on behalf of working-class families has returned more than $6 billion to harmed consumers. That’s not all. Director Chopra has taken decisive action to address the harsh reality that hardworking families are increasingly stretched thin and living paycheck to paycheck,” she added.
“Under his leadership, the CFPB has taken action to eliminate costly and illegal junk fees imposed by big banks, hold student loan servicers like Navient accountable for defrauding hardworking students, protect servicemembers from high-interest loans, promote transparency in the small business lending market, ban medical debt from being used to block creditworthy borrowers from accessing credit, tackle discrimination in housing and the economy, and take on big banks like Wells Fargo for repeatedly breaking the law and exploiting the very consumers they claim to serve,” she continued.
“While his accomplishments are too long to list, Director Chopra also advanced reforms to promote competition and strengthen privacy protections for consumers, actions that earned him unusual praise from Congressional Republicans. It’s no wonder why four out of five Americans support the CFPB, including a staggering 77% of Republicans. Even a conservative Supreme Court hostile to all kinds of regulatory agencies agreed that the CFPB and its funding is constitutional,” Waters stated.
“Director Chopra, we thank you for your years of public service and remain grateful for the incredible work you have done in the past few years leading the excellent CFPB staff in protecting our nation’s consumers,” she concluded.