Republican lawmakers vowed Tuesday (Feb. 17) to reform the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) after a White House report detailed what it said are the costs of the agency and its regulations.
The White House said Tuesday that the CFPB has cost consumers at least $237 billion since the agency was launched 2011.
Much of that cost is due to the regulatory burden imposed by the CFPB, the White House said in a press release highlighting findings from a report by the Council of Economic Advisers (CEA).
CFPB regulations increased the compliance and liability costs associated with financial products, and financial institutions passed those costs along to consumers in the form of higher prices and reduced product offerings, according to the release.
In its report, the CEA said that the CFPB has cost consumers between $237 billion and $369 billion since 2011. That estimate includes fiscal costs, higher borrowing expenses and reduced originations, per the release.
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Sen. Tim Scott, chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, said in a Tuesday post on X that the CEA report “shows how the misguided policies of the CFPB raised borrowing costs and made it harder for families to access mortgages, auto loans, and credit cards.”
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“The Trump administration and [Senate GOP] are focused on holding the CFPB accountable, lowering costs, and expanding opportunity for all Americans,” Scott said in the post.
The account of the House Financial Services Committee Republicans highlighted the CEA report in a Tuesday post on X and said that “Committee Republicans will continue to work with the Trump Administration to advance a consumer protection framework that prioritizes American consumers and recognizes how excessive regulatory burdens limit access to affordable credit and essential financial services.”
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, ranking member of the Senate Banking Committee, told the Financial Times in a Tuesday report that the CEA report is “pathetic” and “error-riddled.”
“Trump can try to claim that stopping banks from cheating you out of your own money is somehow bad for you, but anyone who knows the facts knows the CFPB has returned tens of billions directly to Americans who were scammed,” Warren told the FT.
The Senate Banking Committee Minority Staff released a report Feb. 9 that said the CFPB has returned $21 billion to Americans who were cheated by banks and corporations.
That report also said that the Trump administration’s attack on the CFPB cost American consumers $19 billion in 2025 in the form of the potential restitution to consumers that was lost due to the dismissal of enforcement actions and the potential savings that were lost due to rescinded rules and guidance.