Some Republicans Open to Musk’s Unconventional Ideas on CFPB, Regulation

CFPB Director Rohit Chopra on Dec. 3 announced potential rules that would subject data brokers to requirements under Fair Credit Reporting Act Regulation V. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce called the proposal a regulatory overreach that goes far beyond FCRA's scope. Comments are due March 3.

President-elect Donald Trump has yet to name a nominee to replace Chopra, a former FTC commissioner. Some privacy compliance attorneys have speculated that support to retain some of Chopra’s data broker provisions could be bipartisan.

Musk in November urged that the federal government “delete” the CFPB because there are “too many duplicative regulatory agencies.” Trump appointed Musk and former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy to lead what he's calling the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which is exploring ways to reduce “wasteful” government spending.

“I’m so thankful we’ve got Elon playing an important role in the Trump administration of shaking this place up,” Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., told us. “Anytime Elon suggests something, I’m going to be listening and looking at what he wants to do because President Trump did not come here to manage Washington. He came to change it. So it’s something we’ve got to look at.”

Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., told us the CFPB is “unconstitutional.” Asked whether it is realistic to think it can be eliminated when Republicans control both chambers, he said, “We’ll see what can all happen. It’s kind of sad if you can create something in government, but you can never remove it, cancel it. That’s the problem with government. It only ratchets in one direction.”

Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said the agency is reliant on Congress for funding, so it must issue rules and regulations with congressional oversight in mind. The CFPB’s regulations aren’t “immune from judicial review,” he said. “I’ll consider [agency] elimination when it’s offered. I’m not going to comment on it as a theoretical.”

However, Senate Democrats told us dismantling the CFPB isn’t possible. It's “here to stay,” said Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass. She formulated the concept and was heavily involved in working with then-President Barack Obama to create the agency before her election to the Senate. The agency was established under federal law and has “withstood every challenge from every group that thought it could make more money by cheating consumers a little more,” she said. “Every time those groups have failed.”

Eliminating the agency seems “unlikely,” said Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I. Republicans have “pretty damn narrow control” of Congress, and there may be some members “who don’t want to own destroying an agency that has returned billions of dollars to consumers from fraudster corporations.” Republicans control 53 of the 100 Senate seats and 220 of the 435 House seats, a five-seat majority in the lower chamber.

Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., defended the CFPB’s role in trying to rein in a largely unregulated data broker industry. “Obviously, I feel very strongly about cracking down on data brokers, and we’re making some progress there,” said Wyden. “Data brokers are a national security threat. I want that understood.”

Wyden has led Democrats’ efforts to pass the Health and Location Data Protection Act (S-4408) in 2022. Recently reintroduced and co-signed by Warren, Whitehouse and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., the bill would ban data brokers from selling or transferring health and location data, and the FTC would be responsible for enforcing it.

Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., said he’s open to unconventional ideas from Musk. That doesn’t mean every piece of authority is eliminated, but Congress has an opportunity to delegate its powers to financial regulatory bodies that existed before the CFPB. Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., said he favors “eliminating whichever agencies we can do without.”

“I certainly hope that that does not happen,” said Ben Cardin, D-Md., who retired at the end of the last Congress. Former Senate Banking Committee Chairman Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, who lost re-election in November, said “a lot of people are going to get hurt” if the agency is eliminated.