WASHINGTON, D.C. –  Senator Andy Kim (D-N.J.) and Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Ranking Member of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, sent a series of letters requesting an investigation and comprehensive overview of the Trump administration’s actions to dismantle the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). The Senators are seeking to ensure the agency is still able to fulfill its statutorily required functions and mission to protect American consumers.

Letter 1: To the Government Accountability Office’s Comptroller General of the United States Gene Dodaro

“We write to request that the Government Accountability Office (GAO) investigate recent actions undertaken at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), including efforts by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), to undermine the CFPB’s ability to fulfill its statutorily mandated functions. Specifically, we ask that GAO examine the impact of recent stop work orders, firings and reductions in force, contract cancellations, decisions to drop major lawsuits, and other related actions on the CFPB’s efforts to enforce consumer protection laws,” wrote the lawmakers.

Letter 2: To the CFPB’s Acting Inspector General Fred Gibson

“We ask that the CFPB Office of Inspector General (CFPB OIG) identify the specific contracts terminated; determine whether the termination of those contracts complied with applicable federal laws, regulations, and agency policies and procedures; and assess the monetary and operational impact of the terminations, including a review of the terminations’ impact on the CFPB’s ability to perform its statutory duties,” wrote the lawmakers.

Letter 3: To the CFPB’s Acting Inspector General Fred Gibson

“We are writing today to request that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Office of Inspector General (CFPB OIG) review actions taken at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) since January 20, 2025, to reduce the CFPB’s workforce and pause or halt CFPB functions. Specifically, we ask the CFPB OIG to determine whether such actions were taken in accordance with all relevant federal laws and regulations and the extent to which they have impacted the agency’s ability to fulfill its mission and its statutorily required functions,” wrote the lawmakers.

In the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, Congress created the CFPB to serve as the nation’s primary enforcer of consumer protection law. The CFPB is statutorily required to fulfill a variety of consumer protection functions and since its founding, the CFPB has returned over $21 billion to millions of consumers scammed out of their money. Since January 2025, the Trump administration has taken steps to dismantle the agency including by requesting access to sensitive CFPB information and directing CFPB employees to freeze all rulemakings, litigation and enforcement activities, and external communications unless expressly approved by the Acting Director or required by law.

Through this series of letters, the Senators seek a comprehensive overview of all actions the Trump administration has taken in regard to CFPB’s workforce and functions and to better understand how these actions have impacted CFPB’s ability to carry out its duties.

Senator Kim serves as the Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on National Security and International Trade and Finance on the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs. He is a member of the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation; the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP); the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs; and the Special Committee on Aging. Before being elected to the U.S. Senate, Kim represented New Jersey’s Third Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives and was a career public servant working in national security and diplomacy at the White House, State Department, and Pentagon. 

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