Washington, D.C. — The Consumer Federation of America released the following statement in response to the introduction in the Senate of 20 Joint Resolutions of Disapproval (JRDs) to reverse the Trump Administration’s rollbacks of corresponding Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) interpretive rules, advisory opinions, policy statements, and other guidances.
“The CFPB was created after excessive risk-taking on Wall Street led to millions of Americans losing their homes, jobs, and savings,” said Adam Rust, Director of Financial Services at the Consumer Federation of America. “Since its launch, the CFPB has unrigged the economy, holding big financial companies accountable when they take advantage of consumers, and delivering $21 billion in relief to the people those companies harmed. With each rollback, the Trump CFPB has re-rigged our economy in favor of bad actors, opening a door to discrimination, financial surveillance, and deception. By fighting these rollbacks, these courageous Senators are standing up for regular people, and against profiteering financial predators.”
Background on the withdrawn rules, the Congressional Review Act, and JRDs:
On May 9th, 2025, the CFPB withdrew 67 guidance documents, rolling back important pro-consumer policies designed to ensure that consumers are treated fairly when using financial services. These rules governed the behavior of financial companies across all of the markets. The withdrawal of these policies removed guardrails against discrimination, predatory lending, unfair debt collection, and other harmful practices. Each of the 20 JRDs corresponds to one of the withdrawn policies.
In the House, Rep. Maxine Waters, the Ranking Member of the House Financial Services Committee, introduced a companion bill, “Guidance Upholding Integrity Through Defense of Americans’ National Consumer Enforcement Act of 2026” (HR 8777 GUIDANCE) to restore the withdrawn CFPB guidances. HR 8777 has not been taken up on the floor.
These rescissions were part of a larger deregulatory sweep under Acting Director Russell Vought. They occurred alongside decisions to relieve financial offenders of penalties authorized in settled enforcement actions. In its first year, the Trump Administration’s attack on the CFPB cost consumers approximately $19 billion in forfeited relief, dropped restitution, and additional fees.
The Congressional Review Act (CRA) permits legislators to file Joint Resolutions of Disapproval to challenge recently finalized regulatory actions. To bring the JRDs to the floor, 30 Senators must sign a discharge petition pledging their support for a JRD. Once on the floor, a JRD must receive a simple majority to reverse the policy. The regulator involved cannot introduce a “substantially similar” rule. The CRA was passed in 1996. Since then, there has never been an instance when this many JRDs were introduced simultaneously.