FWD: Senators Kim and Warren Press Acting CFPB Director Vought on How He is Failing American Consumers

FWD: Senators Kim and Warren Press Acting CFPB Director Vought on How He is Failing American Consumers

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Senator Andy Kim (D-NJ), Member of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, and Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Ranking Member of the Committee, sent a letter to Russell Vought, Acting Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), demanding answers about recent updates to the CFPB Consumer Complaint Portal that have made it more difficult for consumers to submit complaints. They note further concern that the changes were made at the urging and to the benefit of credit reporting companies, and at the cost of consumers.

"Instead of spending time strengthening the CFPB - an agency that has served as a financial watchdog and returned over $21 billion to consumers cheated by big banks and corporations-you and President Trump have spent the last year and a half finding ways to gut the agency's enforcement capabilities, hack away at its workforce, and slash enforcement activity. Your decision to roll out an updated consumer complaint system that discourages consumers from seeking assistance from the agency is yet another step in this troubling trend," wrote the Senators.

WATCH SENATOR KIM AT TODAY'S BANKING COMMITTEE HEARING WITH VOUGHT

The CFPB is statutorily obligated to collect, monitor, and respond to consumer complaints. However, the Senators outline that the CFPB, under Vought's leadership, has taken steps to erode the agency's Consumer Complain Portal, pointing to numerous alerts and steps in the complaint submission portal that discourage consumers from seeking assistance. Read more about the updates in the Senators' full letter. The Senators are seeking justifications and explanations about the changes by July 30^th.

Yesterday, Senator Kim further addressed these concerns with Vought at a Senate Banking Committee hearing on the CFPB Semi-Annual Report:

"I have real concerns about this overhaul," stated Senator Kim. "Why is this happening? Why is this fundamental tool that has helped so many Americans something that you've put more restrictions on top of... I've been hearing from so many who have used this in the past and are now saying 'why has this been changed.'"

The letter and hearing build on Senator Kim's continued efforts to hold Vought accountable for leaving American consumers behind and dismantling critical federal services. The independent Office of Inspector General (OIG) for the Federal Reserve System and CFPB took up the call from Senators Kim and Warren to investigate the Trump Administration's actions to dismantle the CFPB, including reviewing workforce reductions and canceled contracts. Senator Kim has also previouslyforced votes on the Senate Floor to reverse Trump's attacks on American consumers, including filing two Joint Resolutions of Disapproval of Trump Administration CFPB rules to protect Americans from unfair and illegal debt collection and defend their right to access and control their financial reports and futures.

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