Senate Democrats ripped billionaire Elon Musk for not attending a Tuesday listening to Musk’s efforts to intestine the Client Monetary Safety Bureau, the federal government’s watchdog company for the patron monetary business.
Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, the rating Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee, wasted no time calling out Musk’s cowardice after she invited him to the listening to to each clarify why he desires to intestine the company, which protects Individuals from getting scammed, and reply questions on his private monetary curiosity within the company’s destruction.
It comes as no shock that Musk was a no-show.
“He is too afraid to show up in person and defend his actions,” Warren mentioned in her opening remarks. “He hides behind a gusher of silly tweets. But Elon, in case you’re watching from your bunker or your Oval Office, it isn’t too late. We’re gonna be here for another hour and a half. We have saved a seat for you, and we all have plenty of questions.”
The CFPB protects customers from predatory monetary and enterprise practices by banks and monetary establishments. Warren spearheaded the company after the Nice Recession. Its work has resulted within the return of over $21 billion to households scammed by monetary establishments, Warren mentioned on the listening to.
Massachusetts Legal professional Common Andrea Campbell, a Democrat, spoke as a panelist about her workplace’s dedication to halt Musk’s efforts to screw over customers.
Elon Musk holds up a chainsaw on the Conservative Political Motion Convention in Oxon Hill, Maryland, on Feb. 20, 2025.
“Make no mistake, attorneys general will work to fill the void if necessary,” mentioned Campbell.
She additionally spoke in regards to the hazard of compromising the company with political buzzwords.
“Some call the CFPB a ‘rogue’ agency when, in fact, the agency is taking on those corporations that have gone rogue, corporations that exploit consumers to build a profit, simultaneously making the playing field unlevel for other businesses,” Campbell mentioned. “Some call the bureau a ‘woke, weaponized’ agency. I tell consumers they better wake up. What these companies know to be true is that the average customer has no weapon to fight back, that customers are either unaware of a scam, or they are unaware and do not have the resources to recoup the money, the house, or the wealth that was taken from them.”
Gutting protections towards sketchy firms and banks is one thing that Musk, President Donald Trump, and the CFPB’s performing director, Russell Vought, should be rejoicing over. Every has been implicated of their justifiable share of lawsuits.
Earlier this month, Vought labored behind the scenes to put off CFPB workers, telling workers to cease working. In response, Vought and others within the Trump administration are being sued by the CFPB’s union. The union’s swimsuit claims that the Trump administration locked workers out of their places of work and deliberate to dismantle the company after Vought ordered workers to cease working.
“The predicate to running a ‘more streamlined and efficient bureau’ is that there will continue to be a CFPB,” Vought mentioned in a submitting in response on Monday. He additionally indicated that the company will search for a brand new director.
Nonetheless, the CFPB union believes critical hurt has already been finished.
“Their actions have caused mass confusion and imposed significant and irreparable harm on consumers across the country,” the union mentioned in a press release.
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