Project 2025 guy literally put in charge of the CFPB

The political press just quietly rolling over and taking his word for it when Trump started lying about Project 2025 is a disgrace that could end up shattering the constitutional order:

Russell Vought took over the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Friday night, adding another twist at the banking watchdog that has landed in the crosshairs of Republicans and Elon Musk.

Vought, who Thursday was confirmed by the Senate as the head of the Office of Management and Budget, is now the acting director of the CFPB, he emailed to top staff at the agency, according to people familiar with the matter. The new leader comes days after Trump fired the Biden-era leader and put in place Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who immediately froze the agency’s work.

Musk earlier Friday had posted “CFPB RIP” on his X social-media platform with an emoji of a tombstone.

Staff of the CFPB have been raising alarms after officials from Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency had arrived at their offices and been granted access to data. The officials were given “read-only” access to various systems, according to an email to staff reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.

A union for CFPB staff put out a scathing statement about the DOGE access, warning the agency and its union members were under attack. Some staff were planning a protest outside the headquarters on Saturday, according to a flier being circulated by the union.

The CFPB, as a regulator of financial institutions, holds sensitive financial supervisory information on the nation’s banks and collects consumer complaints and data. The Friday evening email from Vought ordered the DOGE officials to be granted access to all “non-classified” CFPB systems.

The union had said members are “deeply concerned that … such legally-protected, sensitive data of businesses and individuals will be exposed and used in inappropriate ways.”

Vought, a longtime budget hawk, has spent years pressing to dismantle the so-called administrative state and has found his entry as an ally to Musk’s venture. 

I am beginning to think that people who asserted that JD Vance and Josh Hawley were going to lead the Republican Party into a new era of economic populism are, how shall I put this, morons.

Here, I think we’re dealing with a coward and liar rather than a moron but it all comes out the same in the end:

Susan Collins, the median voter’s senator. “Boy I sure hope somebody stops the person I just voted for.” That’s got a huge constituency

[image or embed]— Coffee Porter Jr. (@unlox.bsky.social) February 6, 2025 at 5:33 PM