Trump fires another Biden holdover

President Trump has fired another Joe Biden holdover as he gets rid of leftists in positions of power. In this case, it was the head of the controversial Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which started under Obama.

Here’s the news via the AP:

President Donald Trump has fired the director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Rohit Chopra, in the latest purge of a Biden administration holdover.

Chopra was one of the more important regulators from the previous Democratic administration who was still on the job since Trump took office on Jan. 20.

During Trump’s first term, the Republican had picked Chopra as a Democrat member of the Federal Trade Commission.

Chopra was notified of his firing in an email from the White House, according to a person familiar with the notice who was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Politico adds more context…

Republicans have criticized the consumer bureau, which they see as an unaccountable regulator with too broad a reach ever since it opened its doors in 2011. Chopra, a protege of Sen. Elizabeth Warren, was an especially active regulator, and the next director is expected to reevaluate a flurry of rules and enforcement actions that he advanced on his way out the door.

Warren, who is credited with conceiving of the bureau when she was a law professor, issued a warning to the White House Saturday about any plans to try to “destroy the agency.”

“President Trump campaigned on capping credit card interest rates at 10 percent and lowering costs for Americans. He needs a strong CFPB and a strong CFPB Director to do that,” Warren said in a statement. “But if President Trump and Republicans decide to cower to Wall Street billionaires and destroy the agency, they will have a fight on their hands.”

There will be plenty for the next CFPB chief to review from Chopra’s tenure. The incoming director can immediately void informal policy guidance put forward by Chopra, including interpretive rules cracking down on Buy Now, Pay Later loan products, Earned Wage Access products allowing employees to access their paychecks ahead of time, and digital payments products.

But regulations that went through the formal rulemaking process are much harder to reverse.

Any rules issued since mid-August fall within the Congressional Review Act lookback window that allows lawmakers to introduce resolutions to overturn a regulation.

The CFPB has issued four major final rules since then: one capping overdraft fees banks can charge; one subjecting non-banks with digital payment platforms to greater scrutiny; one giving consumers greater access to their financial data; and another barring the inclusion of medical debt on credit reports.

If you want more in depth coverage, you can continue reading about this at Politico.

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By Melinda Davies
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