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By Douglas Gillison
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday tapped newly confirmed Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent as acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the agency announced.
Bessent then halted virtually all CFPB activities, according to an email seen by Reuters, including investigations, litigation, rulemaking and public communications.
Bessent's arrival at the helm of an agency Republicans have long sought to abolish follows Trump's dismissal of Director Rohit Chopra at the end of last week.
Under Chopra, the agency aggressively pursued enforcement of consumer finance laws and clashed with the tech sector and banking industry over things such as the oversight of digital wallet apps and credit card fees - pursuing them through the final days of the prior administration.
Bessent said in a statement that he looked forward to advancing Trump's economic agenda. The news was first reported by Bloomberg.
In an agency-wide email, Bessent cited a need to conform to the Trump administration's goals and directed all staff and contractors to take no new actions "unless expressly approved by the acting director or required by law."
Agency lawyers on Monday informed a federal appeals court they were seeking a pause to proceedings and would not defend against a lawsuit.
Lindsey Johnson, head of the Consumer Bankers Association, an industry body representing retail banks, welcomed Bessent's appointment and said in a statement that Bessent had the immediate opportunity to rescind Chopra's "partisan policies."
Elizabeth Warren, the top Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee who helped create the CFPB following the 2008 financial crisis, denounced Bessent's decision to halt enforcement activities as an invitation to corporate misconduct.
"Shutting down CFPB enforcement actions that are on the verge of delivering money into the pockets of working people is at odds with President Trump's claim that he wants to lower costs for families – which he has done next to nothing on so far," she said in a statement.
Bessent, who was confirmed as Treasury Secretary last month, is a Wall Street veteran and former Trump campaign adviser who has shared Trump's interest in deregulation.
Bessent will not be the first acting CFPB director to occupy two roles simultaneously. In his last term, Trump named White House budget director Mick Mulvaney to run the agency.
The CFPB survived possible abolition in May when the Supreme Court rejected industry-backed constitutional challenges to its funding structure.
But Democrats on Capitol Hill fear the Republican congressional majority may soon seek to make good on pledges to slash or seize control of the CFPB's funding, which is currently provided by the Federal Reserve, shielding it from the partisan vicissitudes of congressional spending approvals.
(Reporting by Jasper Ward, Susan Heavey and Douglas Gillison in Washington; Additional reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston; Editing by Mark Porter, Alison Williams and Marguerita Choy)
