Democrat lawmakers led by Sen. Elizabeth Warren have held a forum criticizing the Trump administration’s and Elon Musk’s efforts to neutralize the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). The event highlighted concerns over potential conflicts of interest and data sharing between Musk’s new digital payments service and the CFPB.
Warren questioned Musk’s involvement in dismantling the CFPB, citing his recent plan to launch a digital payment app within X. While Musk was invited to the event, he did not attend. The lawmakers raised concerns that Musk could use the CFPB’s confidential data, including information on PayPal, CashApp, and Zelle, to gain an unfair advantage in the market.
The CFPB has been critical of tech giants and payments firms, including Apple and PayPal, for allegedly failing to properly investigate fraud complaints. With the bureau in a state of limbo, lawmakers are worried about how far Musk’s efforts can go. A federal judge has halted their efforts, but advocates are still pushing for the law to be enforced.
Warren emphasized that Congress holds the power to shut down the CFPB and reiterated her confidence that judges will ultimately prevail. The former head of the CFPB supervision director, Lorelei Salas, also warned that sensitive data from consumers filing complaints could be compromised if the agency is dismantled.
Source: https://www.cnbc.com/2025/02/25/democrat-senators-question-what-elon-musk-plans-to-do-with-cfpb-data.html