(Reuters) – President Donald Trump’s newly installed management and budget director Russell Vought took control of the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Friday, according to the White House Office of Management and Budget.
The Wall Street Journal reported late Friday that representatives of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency gained “read-only” access to its computer systems.
Earlier that day, Musk posted a message on X indicating the agency was facing its demise: “CFPB RIP.” The agency’s website also appeared to be malfunctioning as of Friday night.
The CFPB did not respond to a request for comment while the Office of Management and Budget did not immediately respond to detailed questions.
As government regulator with enforcement powers, the CFPB investigates companies, performs inspections and collects vast quantities of sensitive consumer and commercial data.
The change in control at the consumer financial watchdog came a day after the Senate confirmed Vought as director of the Office of Management and Budget.
Trump on Monday had named Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent acting CFPB Director after firing the previous director Rohit Chopra the week before. Bessent immediately froze all CFPB activities.
Vought is a long-time budget hawk and architect of the conservative policy manifesto Project 2025, a chapter of which calls for the CFPB to be dismantled, a goal Republican lawmakers have long pursued.
(Reporting by Douglas Gillison in Washington and Nate Raymond in Boston; editing by Diane Craft)
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