Warren says Trump's CFPB overhaul cost Americans $26.5 billion

The Trump administration's overhaul of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has cost U.S. consumers $26.5 billion, according to a report from Senator Elizabeth Warren.

The Trump administration's dismantling of Consumer Financial Protection Bureau rules on credit-card late fees and overdraft charges has cost American consumers $26.5 billion, a report from Senator Elizabeth Warren shows.

"The CFPB was created to be the cop on the beat for working families, and this administration has turned it into a doormat for the biggest banks," Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat who conceived the agency after the 2008 financial crisis, said in the report shared first with CNBC.

The bulk of the estimated consumer costs — $15 billion — stems from the CFPB's decision to abandon a rule capping most credit-card late fees at $8, a regulation the agency previously estimated would save consumers roughly $10 billion annually. Another $7.5 billion comes from the repeal of the agency's overdraft fee rule, which would have limited many banks to charging $5 for overdrafts. The remaining $4 billion reflects enforcement actions and settlements the bureau dropped or abandoned, some of which were set to send payments directly to consumers.

The report lands as acting CFPB Director Russell Vought faces a Senate oversight hearing Thursday over the agency's sweeping changes, and as the Senate weighs the nomination of Brian Johnson, a former CFPB deputy director turned Capital One Financial Corp. executive, whom President Donald Trump tapped to lead the bureau permanently. A reversal of the current policy direction could threaten billions in fee revenue for large U.S. consumer banks including JPMorgan Chase & Co., Bank of America Corp. and Citigroup Inc.

Scrapped Rules Hit Consumers Directly

The $8 credit-card late fee cap was finalized under the Biden administration in March 2024 and was projected to reduce the average late fee from $32 to $8, saving the roughly 45 million Americans who incur late fees each year an estimated $10 billion annually. The CFPB under Vought withdrew the rule in February 2025, allowing card issuers to continue charging fees that averaged $34 per incident, according to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's own data.

The overdraft fee rule would have reduced the typical overdraft charge from $35 to $5, targeting what the CFPB described as a $9 billion annual revenue stream for large banks. The agency estimated that 23 million households pay overdraft fees each year, with the heaviest users incurring more than $300 annually.

Enforcement Retreat Adds to Tally

Beyond rule rollbacks, the CFPB under Vought has dismissed more than three dozen enforcement actions and consent orders, including cases targeting JPMorgan, Bank of America and Wells Fargo & Co. over alleged consumer abuses. The report estimates those dropped actions represent roughly $4 billion in potential consumer relief that never reached affected households.

Since taking office last year, the Trump administration has slashed CFPB staffing, narrowed or dropped dozens of enforcement cases, and rolled back Biden-era rules to refocus the agency on what officials call its core mission. Republicans have defended the moves as necessary to rein in what they view as an overreaching regulator.

The White House and CFPB did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Ahead of Thursday's hearing, Warren also sent Vought a letter cataloging what she described as unanswered congressional oversight requests during his tenure running the bureau.

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