Before Donald Trump and Elon Musk took a chainsaw to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), America’s watchdog agency put $19.7B back in Americans’ pockets. Now, as Trump and his corrupt billionaire Cabinet move to shutter the CFPB and drop cases against predatory companies that cheat consumers, millions of working Americans will suffer — and so will their wallets. 

Here’s a look at how Donald Trump’s shuttering of the CFPB is already ripping off Americans:

USA Today: “Thousands of complaints submitted by Americans to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau alleging fraud or scams from private companies are going unanswered following President Donald Trump’s efforts to dismantle the agency, Senate Democrats argue in a new report. …

“Since Feb. 13 ‒ following mass firings at the CFPB pushed by Vought ‒ the bureau has uploaded just 2,234 complaints a day, according to the report. Historically, the CFPB receives about 350,000 monthly complaints ‒ a pace far greater than the number processed so far this month. …

“The daily average of complaints submitted to companies has dropped to 2,067 since Feb. 13, a decline of 80% from the pre-Trump rate.”

CNN: “Consumer watchdog quits cases against firms accused of ripping off Americans”

“The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) abruptly dropped cases on Thursday against multiple companies that had previously been accused of hurting consumers. Court filings indicate that the consumer watchdog has decided to dismiss lawsuits previously filed against Capital One, Rocket Homes, a unit of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway and a student loan servicer. Just weeks earlier the CFPB accused Capital One of ‘cheating’ millions of customers out of billions of dollars of interest payments.”

Associated Press: “The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is dropping its lawsuit against the company that runs the Zelle payment platform and three U.S. banks as federal agencies continue to pull back on previous enforcement actions now that President Donald Trump is back in office.”

CNBC: “Since acting Director Russell Vought has taken over the CFPB, the agency has dropped at least a half dozen cases brought by his predecessor, Rohit Chopra. The agency is now embroiled in a legal battle after a union representing CFPB employees sued to halt mass firings and the purging of data that would’ve happened under Vought and Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency.”

Reuters: “The U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which President Donald Trump has moved to abolish, told a court on Friday it was dropping a lawsuit against the online lending platform Solo Funds, which the agency had earlier accused of deceiving borrowers about the cost of loans. …

“According to the CFPB, the company misrepresented the costs of loans, tricked them into making ‘donations’ that were actually optional, made false threats and attempted to collect funds customers did not actually owe, among other allegations — claims the company rejected in court papers.”

Bloomberg Law: “CFPB Fires 70 Enforcement Lawyers, Other Probationary Employees.”

“The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is canceling more than $100 million in vendor contracts as part of a cost-cutting maneuver by the agency’s new leadership, potentially putting its cybersecurity efforts at risk. … 

Cybersecurity contracts and other internal management systems weren’t included on a list of ‘essential’ contracts obtained by Bloomberg Law, meaning they’re vulnerable to cuts.”