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$21 Billion Returned. Then Defunded.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau returned $21 billion to over 200 million consumers since 2011. Under Director Chopra alone, the bureau secured $6.2 billion in consumer redress and $3.2 billion in civil penalties across 84 enforcement actions. Wells Fargo paid $3.7 billion, the largest CFPB fine ever.
$21 billion returned to consumers. 6.6 million complaints filed in 2025. The bureau was defunded. 22 state attorneys general sued to restore it. A federal judge called the defunding “a transparent display of partisanship.”
Acting Director Russell Vought ordered a stop to all CFPB work within weeks of taking over. The agency rescinded 67 consumer protection policies.
What Got Dropped
The CFPB dismissed active lawsuits against companies accused of ripping off consumers. A case against National Collegiate Student Loan Trusts, ongoing since 2017, was dropped with prejudice. A lawsuit against PHEAA for illegally pursuing borrowers for discharged-in-bankruptcy debts was withdrawn. A case against CURO for churning payday loans to harvest hundreds of millions in fees was abandoned.
The agency announced it will not enforce the Payday Lending Rule that took effect March 30, 2025. Congress repealed the overdraft fee cap on April 9, eliminating $5 billion per year in projected consumer savings.
Consumer complaints did not slow down. The CFPB received 6.6 million complaints in 2025, double the 3.2 million in 2024. Credit reporting complaints rose 115%. Debt collection complaints rose 86%. The complaints arrived. Nobody was processing them.
The Courts Pushed Back
Twenty-two state attorneys general sued in federal court to restore the bureau. Judge Amy Berman Jackson ruled the defunding unlawful, ordering the CFPB to continue requesting funding from the Federal Reserve. The court called Vought’s refusal “a transparent display of partisanship.”
Vought reluctantly requested $145 million, enough only through March 2026. The fight over whether the bureau survives continues.
What you can do now
- Tell your senators to restore CFPB funding. The bureau needs a permanent funding stream independent of political appointees. Text RESIST to 50409 or use Resist Bot.
- File a consumer complaint anyway. The CFPB complaint portal still accepts submissions. Companies respond to complaints even when enforcement is paused because the data becomes public.
- Contact your state AG. 22 state attorneys general already sued to restore the bureau. If yours is not on the list, ask why. Find your AG.
- Check your financial statements. With enforcement paused, banks and lenders face less oversight on fees, overdrafts, and debt collection. Dispute unauthorized charges now while records are fresh.