Amo Leads Letter Demanding Answers on Trump Effort to Dismantle the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

WASHINGTON, DC - Today, Congressman Gabe Amo (RI-01) led a letter signed by 25 colleagues to Treasury Secretary Bessent and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Acting Director Vought expressing alarm with steps taken by the Administration to remove the vital consumer protection functions of the CFPB. Following Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency's unlawful actions to close the main CFPB office, fire the agency's director, order staff to stop working, and remove sections from the website, the Bureau has been unable to protect American Consumers, including our seniors.

"We write to express our alarm with the steps you and Elon Musk, the head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), are taking to unlawfully close the CFPB. Firing the Director, closing the main office, ordering staff to stop working, and removing portions of the CFPB website prevents the Bureau from meeting its mandate to protect consumers," said the lawmakers. "Preventing the CFPB from enforcing consumer protection laws will have an outsized harm on our constituents because seniors are already disproportionately hurt by fraud. Additionally, closure of the CFPB will deprive seniors of the tools they need to defend themselves from fraud."

The letter was signed by Representatives Joyce Beatty (OH-03), Donald Beyer (VA-08), André Carson (IN-07), Ed Case (HI-01), Sean Casten (IL-06), Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (FL-20), Gil Cisneros (CA-31), Lou J. Correa (CA-46), Christopher Deluzio (PA-17), Adriano Espaillat (NY-13), Cleo Fields (LA-06), Bill Foster (IL-11), Jonathan Jackson (IL-01), Robin Kelly (IL-02), LaMonica McIver (NJ-10), Kweisi Mfume (MD-07), Joe Neguse (CO-02), Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC-AL), Shri Thanedar (MI-013), Dina Titus (NV-01), Rashida Tlaib (MI-12), Paul Tonko (NY-20), Juan Vargas (CA-52), Gabe Vasquez (NM-02), Nikema Williams (GA-05), and Frederica Wilson (FL-24).

BACKGROUND

Congressman Amo is an advocate for seniors and strong supporter of the CFPB's work to defend American consumers in the financial marketplace.

On February 11, 2025, after President Trump and Elon Musk initially locked employees out of the agency, Congressman Amo joined Democratic lawmakers in a Hands Off the CFPB Rally.

On January 17, 2025, Congressman Amo partnered with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to host a Senior Fraud Roundtableconversation at the Middletown Senior Center to educate Rhode Islanders about ways to protect themselves from financial fraud and scams that target seniors. The discussion featured law enforcement, federal and local consumer protection experts, and local community members discussing strategies to prevent senior fraud.

On October 29, 2024, Amo sent a letterto the FTC Chair Lina M. Khan ​​asking for assistance in addressing the increasing prevalence of fraud and scams in Rhode Island and across the country affecting seniors.

On June 17, 2024, Amo welcomed Committee on Ways and Means Social Security Subcommittee Ranking Member John Larson to East Providence Senior Centerto discuss the landmark Social Security 2100 Act (H.R.4583) which would protect and expand essential earned Social Security benefits for millions of Americans across the country.

Between 2022-2023, Rhode Island was one of the top ten statesacross the nation to experience an increase in senior fraud. In 2023, senior fraud complaints to the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Internet Crime Complaint Center increased by 14%. According to the FBI's data, 274 victims in Rhode Island lost $7,377,688 to elder fraud. Monetary losses experienced by seniors totaled $3.4 billion.However, according to the FTC, "less than 3 percent of consumers who experienced fraud reported it to a government entity" - meaning that rates of senior fraud are likely significantly higher than reported. Experts estimate fraudulent actors stole between $7.1 billion and $61.5billion from older adults in 2023.

READ THE FULL TEXT OF THE LETTER BELOW

Dear Secretary Bessent and Acting Director Vought:

We write to express our alarm with the steps you and Elon Musk, the head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), are taking to unlawfully close the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). Firing the Director, closing the main office, ordering staff to stop working, and removing portions of the CFPB website prevents the Bureau from meeting its mandate to protect consumers.

The CFPB provides a public service as the only federal agency exclusively focused on defending consumers in the financial marketplace. Created in response to the 2008 financial crisis, the CFPB protects consumers from unfair, deceptive, and abusive financial products and services. As Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell confirmed in a hearing last month, the CFPB is the only agency guarding consumers against deceptive practices by big banks. The CFPB has been incredibly effective, returning over $21 billion to consumers who were victims of illegal or abusive activities since its creation.

The CFPB provides another vital consumer protection function: protecting seniors from fraud. In 2023, senior fraud complaints rose by 14 percent, with losses to seniors increasing by 11 percent to $3.4 billion . Seniors are disproportionately targeted by fraud compared to other age groups. The CFPB participates in the Scams Against Older Adults Advisory Group and partners with other federal government agencies, advocacy groups, and private industry stakeholders. Their goals include expanding consumer education and outreach efforts, improving industry training on scam prevention, identifying innovative or high-tech methods to detect and stop scams, and reviewing research on effective messaging to prevent scams. Additionally, the CFPB's Office for Older Americans provides resources on how seniors can be protected from unfair and deceptive practices.

Your efforts to shut down the CFPB will do irreparable harm to seniors in our communities by placing our constituents at an increased risk of becoming victims of fraud. Preventing the CFPB from enforcing consumer protection laws will have an outsized harm on our constituents because seniors are already disproportionately hurt by fraud. Additionally, closure of the CFPB will deprive seniors of the tools they need to defend themselves from fraud.

With this in mind, we request answers to the following questions:

• What steps are you taking to ensure the CFPB's work to prevent senior fraud continues, including the agency's participation in the Scams Against Older Adults Advisory Group?
• How much money has the CFPB returned to seniors who were victims of fraud since the creation of the CFPB, and how will the agency continue to use its enforcement actions to return money to seniors who were victims of fraud?
• You have attempted to pull down the home page of the CFPB website. What steps will you take to ensure that resources, including webpages with information on preventing senior fraud, remain available to the public?
• How does shutting down the CFPB's website, firing the Director of the CFPB, and ordering CFPB employees to stop working, prevent senior fraud?

We ask that you provide responses to these questions no later than March 28, 2025. We also acknowledge that these answers will not stop the immense harm that will occur to consumers of all ages should you continue to prevent the CFPB from operating or shut down the agency. Therefore, we remind you that only an act of Congress can legally close the CFPB and demand that you return the CFPB to its essential, and statutorily mandated, work.