Elon Musk, who’s worth $400 billion, making him the world’s richest man, wants to “delete” the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) (see story here). The federal agency may not survive the Trump administration. Here’s what it does, and why ordinary Americans need it:
“The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau filed a complaint Friday [December 6, 2024] against Comerica Bank, accusing the regional bank of failing to administer a federal benefits program that uses prepaid debit cards. … The Direct Express program is a prepaid card that beneficiaries of Social Security and other federal programs can use to pay for expenses including groceries and gas. Comerica has been contracted with the Department of the Treasury since 2008 to administer the program and handle customer service for the millions of Americans using the prepaid card, many of whom are disabled and older and don’t have a bank.”
The story continues,
“The lawsuit claims Comerica Bank ‘intentionally terminated’ more than 24 million customer service calls, charged more than 1 million cardholders ATM fees they didn’t owe and mishandled fraud complaints while providing federal benefits through the Direct Express prepaid debit card program. ‘By deliberately disconnecting millions of calls and harvesting illegal junk fees, Comerica boosted its bottom line at the expense of Americans living on a fixed income,’ CFPB Director Rohit Chopra said.”
Read story here and watch video below. Getting rid of this agency, and allowing predatory financial institutions to prey on helpless American citizens, isn’t what voters thought they were voting for when they re-elected Trump. But it’s what they’re going to get. Is it too soon for Trump voters to start thinking maybe they made a mistake? Abolishing the CFPB will only be the beginning; there’s much more they didn’t anticipate coming.