Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump, left, listens as investor Scott Bessent speaks on the economy in Asheville, N.C., Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2024.
Matt Kelley | AP
President Donald Trump has made Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent the acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau after firing former head Rohit Chopra over the weekend.
Bessent, a former hedge fund manager who was confirmed as head of the U.S. Treasury last week, will presumably lead the CFPB until a permanent pick is named.
“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 CFPB statement released Monday.
Chopra, who was appointed by former President Joe Biden in 2021, was often at loggerheads with the U.S. banking industry after pushing to drastically rein in practices around credit card late fees and overdraft fees, among many other efforts. Trade groups representing banks fought these regulations in court, fending off rules that would’ve saved Americans billions of dollars in fees, but that the industry called poorly considered or unjustified.
Banking groups had expected Chopra to be fired as soon as Trump’s inauguration day, but Chopra remained on for nearly two weeks into Trump’s second term, continuing to fire off releases and weighing in on hot-button topics including whether banks unfairly closed accounts.
It wasn’t until Feb. 1 that Chopra confirmed he was stepping down from the agency. While Chopra’s term was scheduled to run for roughly another two years, a 2020 Supreme Court ruling gave the president the power to fire the agency’s head at will.
In a letter to Trump posted to social media platform X, Chopra said that he saw a path for the next CFPB leader to enact “meaningful reforms,” including a possible cap on credit card interest rates.
The CFPB was created in the aftermath of the 2008 global financial crisis, which was caused in part by banks’ irresponsible lending and securitization practices.
But the agency has since been targeted by trade groups who unsuccessfully argued that the CFPB’s funding violated the U.S. Constitution, and more recently by conservative figures including X owner and Trump advisor Elon Musk, who has called for the closure of the CFPB.
The Consumer Bankers Association said Monday it was “pleased” at Bessent’s appointment at the CFPB, and that Bessent should take steps to reverse “partisan policies” made under Chopra.
“We’re hopeful that Secretary Bessent will take into account the real-world ramifications regulations have on America’s leading banks, the millions of consumers they serve, and the economy as a whole,” said CBA President Lindsey Johnson.
