Senator Kim Uplifts Power of “Customer Service Governance” at CFPB as Trump/Musk Gut the Agency and Leave Americans Unprotected
February 28, 2025
WASHINGTON D.C. – This week, Senator Andy Kim highlighted the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)’s critical work protecting Americans from scams and pressed the importance of “customer service governance” to be responsive to people’s everyday needs. Ahead of Thursday’s nomination hearing for CFPB Director Designate Jonathan McKernan, Democrats on the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee convened a forum to focus on the dangerous consequences of President Trump and Elon Musk’s efforts to eliminate the CFPB.
“The way I’ve often talked about some the work we do when I hear from constituents in New Jersey is this idea of ‘customer service governance’, trying to really think through how we can be responsive to the needs of people,” said Senator Kim. “I think with CFPB there is a particular component of it called the Consumers Complaint Program and Database. This is a key tool that allows for being able to flag scams and other things…If we are seeing a halt on CFPB’s halt and see that spread to the Consumer Complain Program Database. What do you believe the impact will be on consumers in New Jersey and frankly, across the country?”
The forum titled, “Senate Banking Democrats Investigate Trump-Musk Attack on American Consumers”, featured Andrea Campbell, Attorney General of Massachusetts; Lorelei Salas, former CFPB Director of Supervision Policy; Stacey McCall, a retired Army veteran of 20 years from Maryland, who was being forced to pay for a Toyota vehicle she couldn’t drive until the CFPB stepped in; and Marette Gillen, a mortgage originator from Texas, who has seen firsthand how the CFPB has positively impacted her industry.
Key quotes from the panel’s answers to Senator Kim’s questions, include:
When asked about the impact of halting CFPB, Ms. Salas stated: “We used that information for one, to get companies to respond to those complaints and to do that quickly, but we also used those complaints to decide which companies we needed to go and examine or initiate an investigation on. That work is not happening, so while complaint system is still up…there is no one there to respond to that, there is no one there looking at them.”
When asked what state tools and laws can fill the void being created by the Trump administration, Massachusetts Attorney General Campbell shared: “There are a lot of significant tools at the state level but again, because the portfolio and the ways in which companies operate are national and interpretation, you need this national partner. You need the Bureau to be able to compliment the work and be even more impactful.”
When asked how to best communicate the impact of this government work and the Trump administration’s actions, Ms. McCall shared: “If I would’ve known about the CFPB in January when they refused to ship my car the first time, maybe I would’ve had it a lot sooner. Since they would’ve been there to advocate for me.”
Earlier this week, Senator Kim and Senator Elizabeth Warren, Ranking Member of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, sent a letter to Acting Director of the CFPB, Russ Vought, requesting information on CFPB’s current ability to intake, process, and publicize consumer complaints through CFPB’s Consumer Complaint Program. They highlighted the impact of eliminating the program which has helped protect Americans from scams and fraud, and cited a report detailing the steep decline in consumer complaints the CFPB has been processing since the Trump administration’s attack on the CFPB began. The Senators are demanding an answer on CFPB’s capacity to keep its Consumer Complaint Program operational by March 5th, 2025.
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