Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent Named Temporary Head Of CFPB

Scott Bessent, the newly confirmed Treasury Secretary, has been named acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. 

Bessent replaces Rohit Chopra, who was fired by President Donald Trump, an outcome analysts expected. Chopra has headed the agency since 2021.

Bessent is a billionaire hedge fund manager whose operating style is expected to benefit wealthy business leaders. While it’s unclear how exactly his leadership will impact the mortgage industry, Bessent’s anti-regulatory mindset may be bad for business — rolling back protections that keep homeowners safe from unnecessary overcharges, penalties, and defaults.

His first move at CFPB was to stop most of the work being done, heightening fears that the Trump administration aims to dismantle the Bureau entirely.

An email sent to staff members instructed them to immediately stop issuing or approving proposed or final rules or guidance, suspend the dates of all final rules not in yet in effect, and not issue any public communications, including research papers.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau began in the wake of the Great Financial Crisis.

It created the Ability-to-Repay/Qualified Mortgage Rule (ATR/QM Rule), requiring creditors to make a reasonable, good faith determination of a consumer’s ability to repay a residential mortgage loan according to its terms and introducing the concept of “qualified” loans.

House Financial Services Committee Ranking Member Maxine Waters, D-CA, released a statement in support of the Bureau and confirmed the committee will continue to fight for its survival.

“Make no mistake, today’s decision is the first step by Trump, his co-President Elon Musk, and their Republican allies in Congress to dismantle the agency entirely, leaving consumers with no place to turn to for help and no real watchdog to hold predatory lenders and other bad actors accountable,” it reads.