A Senate Banking Committee minority report attributes most of the figure to the rollback of credit card late fee and overdraft fee rules
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat from Massachusetts, speaks in committee on Wednesday, June 25, 2025. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Thursday put a price tag on the Trump administration's dismantling of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau — $26.5 billion — releasing a report that traces most of that sum to the elimination of two Biden-era rules limiting bank fees.
The report, produced by the minority staff of the Senate Banking Committee, was shared first with CNBC and released the same day that acting CFPB Director Russell Vought appeared before the Senate Banking Committee for an oversight hearing on the agency's actions.
The report pins up to $15 billion of that total on the CFPB's move to abandon an $8 cap on most credit card late fees — a regulation the bureau had projected would deliver about $10 billion in annual savings to consumers. In April 2025, the agency agreed with the credit card industry in federal court that the rule should be vacated, according to the report. The minority staff calculated that Americans lost up to $10 billion in potential savings in 2025, and an additional $5 billion in the first six months of 2026.
An additional $7.5 billion in the tally comes from the rollback of the CFPB's overdraft rule, a regulation that would have restricted overdraft charges to $5 at many large banks and credit unions and that the agency had projected would return up to $5 billion a year to consumers. Republicans in Congress and the Trump administration overturned that rule in 2025, according to the report. The minority staff calculated losses of up to $5 billion in 2025 and an additional $2.5 billion in the first half of 2026.
The remaining portion of the $26.5 billion estimate — roughly $4 billion — reflects a February 2026 minority staff finding that the CFPB's decision to drop more than three dozen enforcement actions and settlements cost consumers that amount, according to CNBC.
Republicans have argued the agency's restructuring was needed to curb what they characterize as regulatory overreach. The White House and CFPB did not respond to requests for comment, according to CNBC.
The hearing also comes as the Senate weighs the nomination of Brian Johnson, a former CFPB deputy director and Capital One $COF executive, whom President Donald Trump tapped to lead the agency permanently.
The CFPB, founded in 2011, has returned more than $21 billion to consumers harmed by deceptive financial practices since its creation, according to the report.
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