Stonewalling by the federal consumer financial protection agency of the congressional watchdog is outlined in a report issued publicly Monday by the watchdog agency – which includes the comment “we stand by the accuracy of the facts presented in our report.”
The Government Accountability Office (GAO), in a report on the status of reorganization efforts for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) between February and August 2025, said it analyzed publicly available information on the efforts. However, the report notes, “CFPB declined to meet with us and did not provide requested information, citing ongoing litigation.”
(GAO told CFPB, in response to that approach, that ongoing litigation does not limit, under federal law, the watchdog agency’s authority to obtain information required for its audits, and doesn’t minimize the bureau’s statutory obligation to provide such information to GAO. “Moreover, the fact that CFPB may be including some of what we requested in its litigation filings seems to minimize the agency’s effort to provide it to us,” the agency said in a footnote.)
GAO said CFPB raised concerns about the accuracy of the report but offered no specifics about which facts or details were inaccurate. The agency said, in response, it asked the bureau if it intended to back up those objections with additional comments, including technical comments. “CFPB confirmed that it would not provide any additional information,” GAO said.
The watchdog agency would not back down. “We stand by the accuracy of the facts presented in our report, which are based on publicly available information including court dockets and Federal Register notices,” GAO said. “As consistently explained in our communications to CFPB leadership throughout this audit, we conducted this work within the scope of our authority in an independent and nonpartisan manner, and we take no position on the policies underlying CFPB leadership’s views about the agency’s past actions or the size of the agency. Our focus was on presenting the dates and events that took place at CFPB between February and August 2025.”
The report was requested by five Democratic members of the U.S. Senate and House: Sen. Elizabeth Warren (Mass.), Sen. Andy Kim (N.J.), Rep. Maxine Waters (Calif.), Rep. Bill Foster (Ill.), and Rep. Al Green (Texas).
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau: Status of Reorganization Efforts
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