February 17, 2026 — Press Release

In affordability crisis, more people than ever turn to the CFPB for help  

WASHINGTON  – In its latest attack on the wildly popular Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), the Trump Administration is claiming that consumer protections cost people too much money. 

Only last week, a report from the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs demonstrated that the administration’s attack on the CFPB has already cost consumers more than $19 billion. The White House’s Council on Economic Advisors, apparently ignoring both that report and the $21 billion the CFPB has returned to consumers since its founding in 2011, now makes unfounded claims that consumers are paying billions to have their loans – including credit cards, car loans, and mortgages – regulated.

“The White House continues to arm billionaires in their war on ordinary people’s wallets,” said Diane Thompson, deputy director and chief advocacy officer at the National Consumer Law Center. “A functioning, effective Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is essential in safeguarding people from unscrupulous companies that prey on working families.” 

People across the country count on the CFPB to protect them from big banks and other large financial corporations. The need for the CFPB is only increasing in the current economy. Last year alone, people filed more than 5.6 million complaints with the CFPB , an increase of more than 100 percent from the year before. 

“In the midst of an affordability crisis and record consumer debt, it’s baffling that the administration is actively working against working families by seeking to dismantle the CFPB,” Thompson said. “The CFPB has made the financial marketplace safer for consumers and financial institutions.” 

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