Biden’s CFPB Goes Down Swinging In Blitz Of Rules. But How Many Will Survive Trump? | Global News Avenue

President Joe Biden’s consumer watchdogs are aggressively issuing new rules and regulations, though many of them may be overturned by the incoming Trump administration.

The last days of the president’s administration after choosing his successor have been called a “lame duck” period, but under the leadership of Joe Biden and bureau chief Rohit Chopra, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is anything but lame . The agency introduced new rules and penalized companies suspected of inappropriate behavior toward customers.

Since the Nov. 5 election, the bureau has finalized four rules, proposed at least two more, issued 11 research reports and taken at least 17 enforcement actions, including against Google and Walmart, according to a news release and other enforcement actions by large companies. bureau.

During the same period last year, the agency proposed two rules, took 10 legal actions and issued four reports. It has not finalized any rules during this period.

The bureau’s latest rules could have a significant impact on household finances. For example, the Bureau has ordered all Medical Debt Eliminated From credit reports, this can improve the credit scores of an estimated 15 million people. They also ask for overdraft fees capped at $5 In most cases, following rules that restricted credit earlier this year Card late fee is $8.

What’s next for these rules?

The banking industry has resisted some of the new rules, File lawsuits to stop them from the effective date. Soon, the Biden-era CFPB rules may face further pushback from the incoming Republican-controlled Congress and White House.

Republicans have opposed the CFPB since its creation in 2010, often arguing that it restricts financial firms with arbitrary rules. Elon Musk, the world’s richest man one of trump’s chief economic adviserssuggested that the incoming administration “delete” the agency entirely.

A former senior CFPB official said the future of change in the Biden era could be bleak.

“I suspect that most of what we see will be at least revised in some form, if not revised,” said David Silberman, a Yale University law lecturer who served as the bureau’s acting deputy director in 2016. Overturned.” and during Trump’s first presidential transition in 2017.

The situation changes with the political winds

The bureau is considered an independent federal agency, to a certain extent apolitical, and its director is appointed by the president to a five-year term and can be removed only during that term. “Inefficiency, dereliction of duty or malfeasance.”

However, in 2020, the Supreme Court ruled that the leadership structure was unconstitutional, paving the way for the president to fire and replace the director once he takes office.

Biden did just that in 2021, replacing Trump-appointed director Kathy Kraninger with Chopra, who worked closely with the White House. Under Biden’s leadership, the bureau has joined a whole-of-government effort to crack down on Biden’s conduct. Called a “garbage fee”“.

Some of these rules may survive the transition, unless repealing them may be unpopular.

“I think taking medical debt out of credit decisions would be popular,” Silberman said. “I think reducing overdraft fees and late fees would also be popular across the political spectrum…I don’t know if they would be willing to accept that.”