MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
The government agency that's supposed to protect Americans from financial abuse is more or less closed this morning. The staff at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau were told yesterday that their D.C. headquarters would be shut this week and that they should work from home. Russell Vought, President Trump's director of the Office of Management and Budget, has taken over as the acting director of the CFPB. He told staff this weekend to, quote, "cease all supervision and examination activity," unquote. We wondered what this means for consumers, so we've called Rohit Chopra. He is the former director of the CFPB. He was appointed to the position by President Joe Biden for a five-year term that was supposed to end in 2026, but he was fired by Trump earlier this month, and he's with us now. Good morning, Mr. Chopra. Thanks for joining us.
ROHIT CHOPRA: Thanks for having me.
MARTIN: So for those who don't know what the CFPB does, can you give us one or two examples of the work of the agency?
CHOPRA: Well, at its core, it's a law enforcement agency. It takes big financial institutions to court who cheat consumers. Whether it's a credit reporting agency or a large bank or a credit card giant, the CFPB has been recovering billions of dollars for consumers who were wronged.
MARTIN: Give an example of the kinds of investigations that were being carried out at the CFPB that have now been put on pause.
CHOPRA: Well, there's all sorts of fraud and abuse that targets people in our country. The CFPB has taken the nation's biggest pawn lender to court - First Cash - for cheating military families. It recently sued JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Wells Fargo for its role in festering fraud on the payment service Zelle. And the list goes on and on. And really, the CFPB is protecting people's pocketbooks every day, and that future is looking uncertain.
MARTIN: You said fraud. Fraud is a word that we are hearing quite a bit these days, especially from the Trump administration, who say that, you know, some of the agencies that they say that they want to roll back or curtail or even close are committing fraud. So when you say that these banks that the CFPB, you know, pursued actions against or committing fraud, could you be more specific? What do you mean by that?
CHOPRA: Well, there are laws on the books that give consumers the right to have an accurate balance on their credit card, mortgage and more. In some cases, investigations by the CFPB have found people being cheated across the country, taking illegal fees or double-dipping on fees, putting people into foreclosure when they shouldn't be or serious issues when it comes to their auto loan or credit card. All of this has federal protections, and the CFPB makes sure that those protections are enforced.
MARTIN: So Brian Armstrong, the CEO of the cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, said this weekend on X that the agency is, quote, "unconstitutional on the face of it," unquote, and that the DOJ is able to go after fraud on its own. What do you say to that?
CHOPRA: Well, that's not what federal law says. The federal law is clear that the CFPB is supposed to enforce the consumer financial protection laws that each of us has when it comes to banking. We know that there are a lot of big special interests who don't want to see any cops on the beat when it comes to Wall Street and big tech firms. We don't have a fair market unless there really is a cop on the beat. And that's what the CFPB is. We saw in the lead-up to the financial crisis that there was no focus on consumer protection or subprime mortgages, and that was a key reform after 2008. And if that goes away, we're just inviting another financial crisis.
MARTIN: This agency was created by the Dodd-Frank Act in 2010, and it does seem to have had its critics all along. I mean, the Senate Banking Committee posted also on X that this is an agency that has been weaponized - their words - against disfavored industries and individuals. How do you respond to that? What do you think they're saying?
CHOPRA: No one knows what that even means. The CFPB has actually been fighting to make sure that people are not excluded from the financial system. Look, these are all vague process criticisms and has nothing to do with the fact that there is big money interests who want to stop law enforcement from holding them accountable when they cheat consumers on their credit cards or their bank accounts. It's big money when you don't have to follow those rules, but it costs consumers dearly when there is no oversight.
MARTIN: That's Rohit Chopra. He's the former director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Mr. Chopra, thanks so much for joining us.
CHOPRA: Thanks so much, Michel. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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