CFPB Deletes Pre-2025 Consumer Advisories and Public Statements from Website
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has removed roughly 1,700 pages from its public website, including press releases, speeches, testimony, consumer advisories, and other public-facing materials published before acting Director Russell Vought assumed leadership of the agency in February 2025.
The deletions included consumer advisories warning Americans about issues like medical debt collection practices and hidden fees in solar energy loans. Employees quoted in multiple reports said the move appeared aimed at minimizing public visibility into the agency’s prior work and accomplishments. One employee described the removals as “another step in them trying to shut it down entirely.”
The CFPB also removed non-English language resources from the website following President Donald Trump’s executive order designating English as the official language of the United States. Links directing users to translated content had already been removed earlier this year.
According to employees cited in the reporting, the purge may significantly reduce the CFPB’s visibility in internet search results, limiting public access to historical consumer-protection guidance. Although archived versions of many pages remain accessible through internet archiving services, employees argued that removing them from the official website undermines transparency and public ownership of agency information.
The move comes amid broader efforts by CFPB leadership to significantly shrink the agency. Since early 2025, the bureau has slowed or halted many operations, rescinded dozens of Biden-era guidance documents, and proposed reducing staffing levels from more than 1,110 employees to roughly 556, with especially deep cuts planned for the supervision and enforcement divisions.
The CFPB’s restructuring efforts remain tied up in ongoing litigation over whether the Trump administration can dramatically reduce the agency’s workforce or effectively dismantle portions of the bureau without congressional approval.
