American Banker’s Kate Berry reports on CFPB changes in the Trump administration

The headline reads Trump team eyes hiring freeze, regulatory rollbacks for CFPB (behind paywall but available on Lexis). According to Berry, a Trump review team is now at the Bureau, with a transition team coming next week. George Mason’s Todd Zywicki is part of the review team. Berry identifies as possible directors FDIC vice chair Travis Hill, FDIC board member Jonathan McKernan, and FTC Commission Melissa Holyoak. She reports that one person has already said no to the job. Observers expect the CFPB to rescind non-binding interpretations, like the BNPL interpretive rule. The future of rules adopted through the notice-and-comment process, like the overdraft rule and credit card late fee rule, is less clear. Congress could block them under the Congressional Review Act, but that would require Republican members of Congress to vote to increase fees consumers pay, which might be unpopular with voters. The Trump administration could rescind them through the notice-and-comment process, but that takes time. Or the pending cases against those rules could succeed, an effort that the Trump administration could help along by refusing to defend the rules.