What does having the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on hold mean for consumers?

People attend a protest in support of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Monday, Feb. 10, 2025, at the CFPB headquarters in Washington. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which Congress established to monitor credit card companies, mortgage providers, debt collectors and other segments of the consumer finance industry, is the latest U.S. government agency to have its work halted by the Trump administration. Trump on Monday defended his administration’s efforts to reform the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, saying the agency was “set up to destroy people.” What Biden-era rules and regulations are on hold? Lindsey Johnson, president and CEO of the Consumer Bankers Association, characterized the CFPB’s work under Biden as “aggressive.” She said the agency took action in recent years without going through the appropriate procedures. Miranda Margowsky, a spokesperson for the Financial Technology Association, an industry group that counts many financial technology companies as members, said her organization anticipates and hopes several CFPB rules, including those governing “buy now, pay later” plans and other fintech products, will be reversed “with the stroke of a pen.” She characterized the rules as “overly broad, overreaching, and harmful.” How are consumer advocates responding?