Jonathan McKernan, nominee for Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, testifies before the Senate Banking Committee on Thursday in Washington, D.C.
Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images/Getty Images North America
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Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images/Getty Images North America
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Thursday dropped five major legal cases it had underway — including a big lawsuit against Capital One — marking a major reversal for an agency that had pursued aggressive action against financial institutions accused of wrongdoing during the Biden administration.
Just last month, the CFPB had accused Capital One of failing to pay more than $2 billion in interest to customers by misleading them into thinking they would be getting higher rates. Capital One denied the charges.
The bureau also dropped its cases against Rocket Homes, Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency, Vanderbilt Mortgage and Finance, and Heights Finance Holding Company.
News of the court filings dismissing the CFPB’s legal cases came just as the Senate Banking Committee was grilling President Trump’s nominee to lead the agency, Jonathan McKernan.
The CFPB has faced intense turmoil in recent weeks, with over a hundred workers fired and the agency virtually shuttered after staff were told to stop all work. Employees were locked out of the bureau’s D.C. headquarters and the building’s lease was canceled.
