US Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren is pushing back against Elon Musk and President Donald Trump over efforts to dismantle the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), an agency she helped create in 2007.
The CFPB — a US government agency focused on consumer protection — was hit with another wave of layoffs on Feb. 13, receiving termination notices for up to 100 employees, NPR reported.
The layoffs came shortly after Russell Vought, director of the Office of Management and Budget and acting head of the CFPB recently appointed by US President Donald Trump, cut off the agency from new funding in line with the agenda of the Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency’s Workforce Optimization Initiative (DOGE).
“The CFPB was created by Congress, and Congress — not Elon Musk, not Donald Trump — is the only one that can shut it down,” Warren said in an interview with Mother Jones on Feb. 12.
CFPB uncovered $21 billion in big bank scams
Warren defended the consumer protection agency, stating that it has uncovered at least $21 billion in “scams that big banks and other lenders have used to cheat American families.”
She said: “Giant banks hated this agency from the first time I ever talked about it, and the reason is pretty straightforward: It bites into the profits they would make from cheating people.”
Related: US Treasury sued for giving Elon Musk’s DOGE access to sensitive info
Among Musk and Trump’s possible reasons for dismantling the CFPB, the senator mentioned their willingness to distract Americans from rising inflation as well as Musk’s plans to turn X into the “everything app.”
Source: Krassenstein (Brian Krassenstein)
“Musk has lost money hand over fist on X. So he has this idea of X becoming a big money platform where he would get everyone’s personal financial data,” Warren said, adding that the CFPB would essentially be an obstacle to that venture:
“He is moving to get the CFPB out of the way just before he launches his money platform. It’s a little like a bank robber managing to fire the cops just before he strolls into the lobby of the institution.”
Warren’s CFPB: Attacking crypto or protecting consumers?
Warren is often seen as a major cryptocurrency skeptic, urging that the industry should follow the same rules as banks and stockbrokers.
In January 2025, the CFPB proposed a rule requiring crypto firms to refund users for funds lost to hacks, offering protections similar to those for US bank accounts.
Source: Professor Crypto
Some American consumers would probably welcome protections after investors lost $2 billion on Trump’s plummeting memecoin launched in January 2025.
However, according to the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Crypto Task Force head, Hester Peirce, memecoin regulation doesn’t fall under SEC jurisdiction but is rather subject to considerations by Congress.
Warren is also known for pushing concerns over Russia’s use of Tether’s USDt (USDT) to evade US sanctions. In January 2025, she pressed Trump’s commerce secretary pick, Howard Lutnick, over his connection with Tether.
Magazine: Trump’s crypto ventures raise conflict of interest, insider trading questions