Musk’s Doge takes aim at US consumer protection agency

The front page of the CFPB website returned an error message on Saturday, however much of the rest of the site appeared to be operating as normal.

Top Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, Maxine Waters, has released a statement that claimed Doge was “systematically killing the CFPB”.

“Musk’s takeover of the CFPB is a five-alarm crisis and a frightening violation of millions of Americans’ data privacy. As it stands, Musk can now see the personal information of people who, after being swindled by bad actors, reached out to the CFPB in a moment of desperation,” Waters said.

Waters said this data could include bank statements, credit card information, Social Security numbers, and medical information.

In a statement, the National Treasury Employees Union, which represents CFPB employees, said Doge’s activities amounted to a “potentially dangerous incursion”. The union said it would pursue all avenues to protect the private data of consumers and financial institutions.

On Friday Musk wrote “CFPB RIP” on his X account. Posting several times an hour, he repeated allegations of widespread criminality, fraud and abuse across government and indicated that he would attempt to close the bureau.

Last month, President Trump fired the CFPB director Rohit Chopra, who was appointed by President Joe Biden, and installed Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent as head of the agency.

But on Friday, Trump made another switch, giving control of the agency over to Russell Vought, the newly approved director of the Office of Management and Budget.

Vought was an author of Project 2025, a list of proposals issued by the Heritage Foundation think tank – one of which calls for the CFPB to be abolished.

The BBC contacted the CFPB, the White House, and a Doge spokeswoman for comment.