After failing to dismantle the CFPB, Russell Vought and his allies have reshaped the bureau into an industry-friendly, less aggressive regulator.
asserted
Vought → fail → regulator
The CFPB’s ask-nicely approach faced its first test when a buzzy startup failed its customers, but the CFPB took the company’s word that it fixed its problems.
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it → ask → problems
Current and former CFPB staffers say the bureau’s light-touch approach and reliance on political aides breaks from precedent and leaves consumers vulnerable.
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approach → say → consumers
These highlights were written by the reporters and editors who worked on this story.
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who → write → story
In mid-July testimony before Congress, Russell Vought boasted that, as the acting head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, he’d refashioned the agency’s approach to pursuing banks and other financial companies accused of exploiting Americans — the role Congress had created for the agency after the 2008 economic crash.
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Congress → boast → crash
Vought had spent the first 18 months of the new Trump administration trying to dismantle the bureau, much as he and other appointees had done with the U.S. Agency for International Development.
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he → spend → Development
At CFPB, he’d ordered mass layoffs, tried to choke off the bureau’s funding and ended the lease on its headquarters, attempting to make good on his vow to put civil servants “in trauma.”
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he → order → trauma
But federal courts blocked Vought’s efforts to close the CFPB, with a judge at one point saying the administration had acted with “complete disregard” for Congress.
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administration → block → Congress
So Vought, who is one of President Donald Trump’s top advisers, switched tactics: If there had to be a watchdog, theirs would be more of a golden retriever, friendlier to industry and less aggressive.
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theirs → switch → industry
Vought had accused the bureau of “thuggery” in the past, and said the “new” CFPB would focus on deregulation, embrace “humility” and adopt a “collaborative approach” to its dealings with companies that harm consumers.
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that → accuse → consumers
As evidence of the success of this new approach, Vought singled out one company by name in his testimony, a buzzy startup called Bilt.
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Vought → single → testimony
The company, which offers credit cards used to make rent and mortgage payments, had fumbled a critical transition, leading to confusion and financial stress for its customers.
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which → offer → customers
In the past, the CFPB might’ve deployed examiners to ensure that every consumer harmed got relief, investigated Bilt’s technology platforms for potential flaws, questioned its third-party contractors or issued subpoenas — with the goal of finding the root causes of whatever went wrong and preventing it from happening again.
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whatever → deploy → it
The Trump-era CFPB took a different tack.
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CFPB → take → tack
“We reached out to the company,” Vought told Congress, “and before it got to the adversarial part of the process, they were able to fix their issues.”
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they → reach → issues
The CFPB even posted a feel-good statement on its website, touting its new approach and telling consumers that information provided by Bilt “appears to show” the firm was “back on track.”
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firm → post → track
Yet two weeks after Vought’s testimony, Bilt failed customers again.
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Bilt → fail → customers
This time, Bilt cardholders received mistaken debt collection notices and saw their credit scores go down as a result, sparking more embarrassing news stories and angry complaints.
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scores → receive → stories
It was Bilt’s second fiasco in six months, and as its customers scrambled to understand what had gone wrong, the CFPB was nowhere to be found.
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CFPB → scramble → months
The Bilt controversy offered an early test of CFPB’s new approach, and the results suggest that an ask-nicely strategy to consumer protection isn’t likely to protect consumers.
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strategy → offer → consumers
What’s more, current and former CFPB officials say the bureau could’ve caught the issues that caused the second of Bilt’s two screw-ups had the previous playbook still been in use.
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playbook → ’ → use
ProPublica sent the CFPB a detailed set of questions about its handling of the Bilt complaints and what actions it took to protect consumers and prevent future problems.
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it → send → problems
The bureau did not respond to any questions or requests for comment.
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bureau → respond → comment
The whole episode drives at a bigger question, according to consumer advocates and current and former CFPB employees: If the Trump administration can’t eliminate the CFPB, what will become of it in the hands of Trump officials, such as Vought, who have long believed the agency is unnecessary?
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agency → drive → Vought
(Vought termed out as acting director in early August but remains a senior adviser.
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Vought → term → August
At his confirmation hearing, Johnson said he could not think of a single decision that he disagreed with made by Vought at the CFPB.
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he → say → CFPB
“What we saw Vought do with Bilt is innovative — and I don’t mean that as a compliment,” said Mike Pierce, a former CFPB official who runs the consumer advocacy group Protect Borrowers, which has criticized Vought’s tenure at the bureau.
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which → see → bureau
A Rocky Transition
Bilt’s business rests on a simple premise: Consumers should build credit and earn rewards for what’s typically their single biggest expense — their rent or mortgage payment.
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what → rest → rewards
“Prior to Bilt, that payment didn’t build anyone’s credit history, which is crazy,” Bilt co-founder Ankur Jain said in March.
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Jain → build → March
Jain added that it was “silly that you can earn rewards buying a round of drinks at a bar, but not paying your rent every month.
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you → add → rent
Founded in 2021, Bilt is one of the hottest startups in the personal finance industry.
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Bilt → found → industry
Bilt says it has 7 million customers and has raised nearly $1 billion in venture capital investments, at a $10.75 billion valuation.
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it → say → valuation
Investors include private equity giant Blackstone, the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan and a venture capital fund chaired by former American Express CEO Kenneth Chenault.
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Investors → include → Chenault
Forbes estimates Jain’s wealth at $3.4 billion.
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Forbes → estimate → billion
People magazine published exclusive photos of Jain’s 2024 wedding to Erika Hammond, a former WWE wrestler and cast member on the upcoming season of “The Real Housewives of New York City.”
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magazine → publish → City
The event took place near the Great Pyramid of Giza; one photo shows the couple kissing at sunset with the Sphinx and pyramids in the background.
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couple → take → background
Earlier this year, Bilt suffered a serious crisis.
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Bilt → suffer → crisis
The startup had signed a seven-year partnership with Wells Fargo to offer Bilt-branded credit cards that could be used to pay rent.
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that → sign → rent
Under its deal with Bilt, Wells Fargo agreed to absorb processing fees associated with rent transactions and make payments to Bilt because it saw the partnership as a way to attract new customers who might one day seek a mortgage from Wells Fargo, according to The Wall Street Journal.
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who → agree → Journal
But revenue fell short of Wells Fargo’s projections, and the bank was losing so much money — as much as $10 million a month, the Journal reported — that it ended its partnership with Bilt four years early.
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it → fall → Bilt
…and 78 more, not listed.
The Aporia
