The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, (CFPB), which was the brainchild of Senator Elizabeth Warren (MA-D), is in danger of being weakened or abolished under a Trump Administration.

Conservatives in Congress have long opposed the agency as having too much independence, and have supported legislation to restructure it by turning it into a five-member commission and bringing it into the appropriations process. The Bureau is currently funded through the Federal Reserve.

Also controversial is the manner in which CFPB’s current director, Richard Cordray, was confirmed. His 2012 nomination was held up by the Republican leadership until July 2013 after Senate Democrats threatened to suspend Senate rules to bring the nomination to the floor.

The Bureau encountered another threat recently when a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia circuit ruled that the CFPB’s singledirector structure was unconstitutional and gave “more unilateral authority” to Director Cordray than to any government figure other than the President. The Bureau appealed the ruling, with support from consumer protection and civil rights organizations, arguing that it could affect similarly structured government agencies, such as the Social Security Administration.

The Trump Administration could decide to withdraw that appeal; however, legal opinions differ as to whether the new President would have the authority to dismiss Cordray, who is nearing the end of a five-year term.

Senator Warren pushed for the CFPB’s creation in the wake of the financial crisis as part of the 2010 Wall Street regulatory reform package. The Bureau claims on its website that, as of November 2016, it provided $11.7 billion in relief to more than 17 million consumers as a result of its enforcement actions and handled more than a million complaints. It has also set new standards for the mortgage market, targeted abusive lending practices by payday lenders, and worked to limit bank overdraft fees.

Senator Ted Cruz (TX-R) has introduced legislation to abolish the CFPB, charging that it “continues to grow in power and magnitude without any accountability to Congress and the people.”

Senator Warren maintains that the Bureau has proven to be a strong consumer agency that “helps level the playing field for working families.”

To learn more, see the January 2010 issue of Congressional Digest on “Consumer Financial Protection.”