Billionaire Elon Musk has called for dismantling a U.S. federal agency designed to protect consumers from exploitative financial practices.
In an early-morning post on his social media platform, X, Musk called for the abolition of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), an independent agency that oversees financial institutions like banks.
Musk wrote, “Delete CFPB. There are too many duplicative regulatory agencies,” in his tweet on Wednesday.
Musk is set to take on a role advising President-elect Donald Trump’s administration in the coming year, where he will help reduce government bureaucracy. Trump revealed plans for a new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) on November 13, with Musk and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy slated to lead the department. The president-elect described the department as a commission that would offer external guidance to “restructure Federal Agencies.”
Musk’s tweet aligns with his ongoing efforts to propose cuts to federal agencies. He has already identified several agencies that he believes should be reduced or eliminated. On the same day, Musk also conducted a poll on X, asking his followers whether the budget for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), which handles federal tax collection, should be cut. The majority favored “deleting” the IRS budget. Musk later affirmed his support for a proposal from a commenter, suggesting that the Department of Government Efficiency audit the IRS.
Musk’s call for the elimination of the CFPB, however, is one of his most direct signals yet that the agency could face significant challenges during Trump’s second term. Founded in July 2011 as a response to the 2007 financial crisis, the CFPB was designed to prevent a repeat of the economic disaster caused by predatory lending in the housing market. The crisis led to a global recession, prompting Congress to pass the Dodd-Frank Act to reform financial regulations and create new agencies focused on the health of the U.S. financial system.
Musk’s remarks on the CFPB followed criticism from Marc Andreessen, a Silicon Valley investor, who claimed the bureau had “terrorized” financial institutions for political reasons. Andreessen, a significant donor to Trump’s re-election campaign, has long been a vocal critic of the agency.
