Musk’s government overhaul plan: 'Delete' bureau that returns billions to Americans

Space X CEO Elon Musk is considering cutting the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau as part of his drastic government remaking under his new entity the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), The Washington Post reported Wednesday.

President-elect Donald Trump promised Musk he could start a government agency to cut government agencies.

While it hasn't yet been approved, Musk has already threatened government workers on his social media site, X, which has led to online bullying. Now he's talking about targeting the agency that enforces laws that protect Americans from banks, mortgage lenders and other financial markets.

“Delete CFPB,” Musk said in a post on X. He claimed that "there are too many duplicative regulatory agencies."

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The idea drew harsh criticism from some who claimed it's an agency that works. One person suggested it was akin to defunding the corporate police.

The bureau is among the few agencies that bring money into the government.

Since its founding, the bureau "secured more than $19 billion in consumer relief, while penalizing large financial institutions and technology firms for allegedly mishandling Americans’ money," the Post reported.

"Its oversight often has stoked the ire of the nation’s biggest banks, credit card companies and other lenders, which have sued the bureau repeatedly over charges of regulatory overreach."

Musk's opposition appears to come from Silicon Valley venture capitalist and Donald Trump supporter Marc Andreessen, who accused the agency of “terrorizing financial institutions," the Post reported.

Andreessen’s firm has backed financial technology companies that have fallen under the watchful eye of the CFPB for allegedly misleading customers.

Killing a government agency created by an act of Congress is more difficult than Musk might think. Doing so would also require an act of Congress.