CNN
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Russell Vought took over as acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Friday night and officials from Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency deleted the banking watchdog’s X account, a person familiar with the matter told CNN.
Vought’s new role, first reported by The Wall Street Journal, came a day after he was confirmed by the Senate to lead the Office of Management and Budget.
The source told CNN that DOGE officials have been granted administrative access to CFPB systems, including content management system, back-end systems for the bureau’s website and the active directory of personnel.
“CFPB RIP,” Musk tweeted out on Friday afternoon with a tombstone emoji.
The DOGE team took control of the CFPB’s X account and deleted it on Friday night, the source said.
The CFPB’s homepage appears to have been deleted, displaying a “404 page not found” message at the top. However, other parts of the website appear to be functioning.
“Everyone is just dismayed and angry,” the source said of the mood inside the CFPB.
Neither the White House nor the CFPB have responded to CNN’s requests for comment.
The move to delete CFPB’s X account comes after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who last weekend was named the acting director of the CFPB, ordered a freeze on virtually all operations at the agency with no indication as to how long the freeze would last.
A letter signed by dozens of House Democrats on Saturday called on Bessent to “rescind what appears to be an illegal stop work order.”
The letter, led by Rep. Maxine Waters, ranking member on the House Financial Services Committee, said the lawmakers are “deeply alarmed and troubled” by efforts to sideline the CFPB. The lawmakers asked Bessent to respond to a series of questions about what his freeze means for consumers previously found to have been harmed by a financial institution.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, ranking member on the Senate Banking Committee, warned President Donald Trump on Tuesday that the “freeze conflicts with the Administration’s stated goal of preventing debanking and lowering costs for American families. More Americans across the country will unfairly lose access to deposit accounts as a result.”
-CNN’s Jeanne Sahadi contributed to this report.
