A top enforcement official at the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has stepped down in protest, accusing the Trump administration of systematically dismantling the agency’s ability to safeguard American consumers, according to a June 10 Reuters report.
Cara Petersen, the acting director of enforcement at the CFPB, delivered a scathing resignation email this week, criticizing the administration’s sweeping overhaul of the bureau. Petersen warned that recent policy shifts, including proposed staff cuts of up to 90%, have made it “nearly impossible” for the bureau to carry out its mandate of ensuring fairness and transparency in the financial marketplace.
“I have served under every director and acting director in the bureau’s history and never before have I seen the ability to perform our core mission so under attack,”
Petersen wrote in the email obtained by Reuters.
The top remaining enforcement official at the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has tendered her resignation, saying the White House’s overhaul of the agency had made her position untenable, according to an email seen by Reuters. https://t.co/isb4J0ruwE
— Reuters Legal (@ReutersLegal) June 11, 2025
She cited mass staff terminations, case dismissals, and the reversal of previously negotiated settlements as signs of a deliberate effort to weaken the bureau’s enforcement arm. “It has been devastating to see the bureau’s enforcement function being dismantled through thoughtless reductions in staff, inexplicable dismissals of cases, and terminations of negotiated settlements that let wrongdoers off the hook,” she added.
The CFPB, established in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, plays a critical role in regulating financial entities—from payday lenders to money transfer companies—while also fielding consumer complaints, including those involving U.S.-based cryptocurrency platforms. Industry observers warn that a weakened CFPB could lead to lax oversight, exposing consumers to greater risks of fraud, especially in the already volatile crypto space.
The Trump administration’s posture toward the bureau is part of a broader trend of regulatory retrenchment, critics say. Petersen’s resignation comes amid ongoing legal battles over the administration’s attempt to sidestep court protections shielding CFPB employees from mass terminations. In April, as many as 1,500 CFPB staff received pink slips as part of a government-wide downsizing initiative, though U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson temporarily blocked the layoffs pending further review.
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