WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump has installed Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent as the acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, a nominally independent agency, after forcing out the previous director over the weekend amid a growing purge of the federal government. 

What You Need To Know

  • President Donald Trump has installed Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent as the acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, a nominally independent agency, after forcing out the previous director over the weekend and amid a growing purge of the federal government
  • The CFPB’s mission is to help protect consumers from unfair practices by banks, lenders and other financial institutions
  • The move comes as Trump’s aides and allies — led by billionaire Elon Musk — are purging dozens of senior and junior government workers across a number of agencies, including those with statutory independence
  • The move also came the same day as Secretary of State Marco Rubio, currently on a tour of Central American nations, was made acting director of USAID as a Musk-led contingent gutted that foreign aid agency and accused it of criminality

The CFPB’s mission is to help protect consumers from unfair practices by banks, lenders and other financial institutions.

The move comes as Trump’s aides and allies — led by billionaire Elon Musk — are purging dozens of government workers across a number of agencies, including those with statutory independence like those in senior roles at the U.S. Agency for International Development and inspectors general across the federal government. Musk, the world’s richest man who is advising Trump and leads the newly formed Department of Government Efficiency, and his team have in the process gained access to sensitive and classified information at the Treasury and State Departments, according to a former U.S. official.

The move also came the same day as Secretary of State Marco Rubio, currently on a tour of Central American nations, was made acting director of USAID as a Musk-led contingent gutted that foreign aid agency and accused it of criminality. On Monday, as USAID workers were told to stay home, Musk said Trump agreed with him that the agency should be shut down. Democratic members of Congress have argued that Trump’s dramatic reshaping of the federal government has circumvented the separation of powers outlined in the Constitution and gone well beyond the authorities of the executive.

“I look forward to working with the CFPB to advance President Trump’s agenda to lower costs for the American people and accelerate economic growth,” Bessent said in a brief statement on the CFPB website Monday. The statement indicated Trump appointed him to the acting director role Friday, but the move was not made public. 

Acting directors appointed early in an administration can generally serve up to 300 days in their roles before a Senate-confirmed agency head must be installed. 

Shortly after his new responsibility was announced, Bloomberg Law reported Bessent had effectively shut down the bureau’s functions, including rulemaking, communications and litigation. The press offices for the CFPB and the Treasury Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment. 

In November, Musk called for the incoming Trump administration to “delete CFPB.” The effort to oust the regulatory body alarmed anti-corruption watchdogs, but was celebrated by some Republicans, including Texas Sen. Ted Cruz.

Bessent, another billionaire, was confirmed as treasury secretary last week. A longtime hedge fund manager, Bessent helped raise tens of millions for Trump’s 2024 campaign.

Rohit Chopra, the former director of the bureau appointed by President Joe Biden, said in a statement Saturday he had been fired after serving in the role since 2021 and publicly shared a letter he wrote to Trump. Chopra's tenure saw the removal of medical debt from credit reports and limits on overdraft penalties, all based on the premise that the financial system could be fairer and more competitive in ways that helped consumers.

In his letter, Chopra noted that the bureau was ready to work with the Trump administration. He said the agency had prepared rules to block Russia, China and others from using data brokers to surveil Americans and had put forth policies intended to prevent people from losing access to banking services for exercising their constitutional right to express their political or religious views.

Chopra was notified of his firing in an email, according to The Associated Press. Trump had previously appointed Chopra as a Democratic member of the Federal Trade Commission during his first term.

The watchdog agency was set up by the Obama administration after legislation passed in 2010 in response to the 2008 financial crisis. It was the brainchild of then-Harvard law professor Elizabeth Warren.

Now a Democratic senator from Massachusetts, Warren has continued to make consumer protections central to her legislative agenda and was close with Chopra. Her office did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday, but said in a statement over the weekend that Chopra had held Wall Street accountable “for cheating hard-working families and preventing the de-banking of Americans across the country.”

“The agency has returned over $20 billion to consumers since its founding – protecting Americans from junk fees, medical debt, and predatory lending,” Warren said. “President Trump campaigned on capping credit card interest rates at 10% and lowering costs for Americans. He needs a strong CFPB and a strong CFPB Director to do that. But if President Trump and Republicans decide to cower to Wall Street billionaires and destroy the agency, they will have a fight on their hands.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.