Musk calls for abolishing consumer finance watchdog targeted by Republicans
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FILE PHOTO: Signage is seen at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) headquarters in Washington, D.C., U.S., August 29, 2020. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly/File Photo
(Reuters) - Billionaire Elon Musk, tasked with slashing government costs by U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, on Wednesday called for the elimination of a federal regulatory agency charged with protecting consumers in the financial sector.
The comment on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) follows Musk's recent appointment to a government efficiency role, further amplifying the influence of the world's richest man, who donated millions of dollars to helping Trump get elected.
"Delete CFPB. There are too many duplicative regulatory agencies," Musk said in a post on social media platform X.
The CFPB did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Musk and former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy will co-lead a newly created Department of Government Efficiency, an entity Trump indicated will operate outside the confines of government.
The CFPB was created as part of the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial reform law to police and regulate consumer financial products following the 2008 crisis and only Congress has the power to eliminate it.
Separately, Reuters reported on Wednesday, citing sources, that the consumer finance watchdog is moving ahead with rulemaking in the final weeks of Joe Biden's Democratic administration, in a bid to advance consumer protections before Trump overhauls the agency.
Republicans have sought to curtail or eliminate the agency from the outset, but legislative efforts to either scrap it altogether, or place stricter limits on its funding and leadership structure, have failed to gain traction in the years since its creation.
Banking industry executives and lawyers also anticipate the incoming Trump administration will likely place significant limits on the CFPB.
(Reporting by Manya Saini in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta)
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