The new populist Republican Party fires CFPB head, then orders it to stop work entirely

There will be so much outflanking you will be tired of all the outflanking:
Scott Bessent, who was confirmed as Treasury secretary last week, has been named acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Bessent replaces Rohit Chopra, who was fired on Saturday.
In an internal email shared with NPR, staff members were instructed to immediately cease much of the bureau’s work, including issuing or approving proposed or final rules or guidance, and suspending the effective dates of all final rules that have been issued but have not yet become effective.
Staff members were also instructed not to commence or settle enforcement actions, nor to issue any public communications of any type, including research papers. The directive was made “[i]n order to promote consistency with the goals of the Administration,” the email said.
Bessent, a wealthy hedge fund manager, was already expected to be a business-friendly choice to lead the Treasury. Now he will lead the CFPB, the federal consumer watchdog, at least for a time.
If only Donald Trump had been president before we might have had some kind of inkling of what was coming.
You would think that the “Republicans are going to turn to economic populism” crowd would start getting tired of being made to look ridiculous, but:
The party that fired Lina Khan is the true party of Lina Khan, because she was praised by a podcaster with zero current influence on the Trump administration
[image or embed]— Scott Lemieux (@lemieuxlgm.bsky.social) January 31, 2025 at 6:35 PM