Massachusetts AG Andrea Campbell is traveling to Washington, D.C. to help head off the derailment of the Consumer Financial Protection Board, a banking watchdog agency slated for elimination by President Trump.
Campbell will appear in D.C. at a forum convened by U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren to highlight how planned cuts to the CFPB might be felt by residents of the Commonwealth and Americans everywhere.
“On Tuesday, February 25, 2025, Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell will testify before a forum convened by U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren to highlight how her office and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) partner to protect consumers in Massachusetts and nationwide,” Campbell’s office announced Monday.
Musk, in a post to the social media company he owns, declared “CFPB RIP” after the Trump Administration ordered employees at the agency to halt all work and to begin no new investigations. According to her office, Campbell will testify “on Trump and Musk’s attacks” on the CFPB.
Warren has invited Musk to attend the afternoon forum, according to reporting by the Washington Post.
“Musk has said that he is trying to kill the agency — he should have the courage to show up in public and answer questions about why he’s doing that and how it would help working people,” the Bay State’s senior senator told the Post.
Commonly referred to as Warren’s brainchild, the CFPB was formed in 2011 and it came about in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. The Bureau is tasked with protecting consumers from unethical business practices, and its responsible for reclaiming more than $20 billion on behalf of American families.
The CFPB has been an object of Republican ire almost from its inception, with conservatives arguing the agency has too much unchecked regulatory power.
“There was a bad group of people running it,” Trump said during a White House press conference. “That was a vicious group of people. They destroyed a lot of people.”
Late last week Campbell joined a coalition of 23 state attorneys general in arguing against the Trump Administration’s attempt to undo the agency. The AGs, in an amicus brief supporting a complaint lodged by the Mayor and City Council of Baltimore in Maryland’s U.S. District Court, argue that without the agency standing guard over the big banks the potential for a financial crisis grows.
A judge ruled Friday that plans for mass layoffs, deletion of data or removal of funding from the agency must be halted, at least through March 3.
“The absence of a functioning CFPB thus creates a regulatory vacuum even greater than what existed before the Great Recession. The very large financial institutions that compete with state-chartered banks will have carte blanche to loosen their regulatory compliance and profit accordingly—to the detriment of consumers—as was seen in the years leading up to the 2008 financial crisis,” Campbell and her colleagues told the court.
According to Campbell, the CFPB has been “an important partner to my office as we pursue consumer protection cases on behalf of Massachusetts residents.”
“The CFPB serves as a beacon for consumer protection and economic justice, working to lower costs, alleviate student debt, and more,” Campbell said in a statement. “I continue to support the vital mission of CPFB, especially at a time when families across the country are struggling with sky-high costs of living.”