Warren shreds Musk over his cowardly refusal to attend hearing

Senate Democrats ripped billionaire Elon Musk for not attending a Tuesday hearing Musk’s efforts to gut the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the government’s watchdog agency for the consumer financial industry. 

Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee, wasted no time calling out Musk’s cowardice after she invited him to the hearing to both explain why he wants to gut the agency, which protects Americans from getting scammed, and answer questions about his personal financial interest in the agency’s destruction.

It comes as no surprise that Musk was a no-show. 

“He is too afraid to show up in person and defend his actions,” Warren said in her opening remarks. “He hides behind a gusher of silly tweets. But Elon, in case you're watching from your bunker or your Oval Office, it isn't too late. We're gonna be here for another hour and a half. We have saved a seat for you, and we all have plenty of questions.”

The CFPB protects consumers from predatory financial and business practices by banks and financial institutions. Warren spearheaded the agency after the Great Recession. Its work has resulted in the return of over $21 billion to families scammed by financial institutions, Warren said at the hearing.

Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell, a Democrat, spoke as a panelist about her office's commitment to halt Musk’s efforts to screw over consumers.

“Make no mistake, attorneys general will work to fill the void if necessary,” said Campbell.

She also spoke about the danger of compromising the agency with political buzzwords. 

“Some call the CFPB a ‘rogue’ agency when, in fact, the agency is taking on those corporations that have gone rogue, corporations that exploit consumers to build a profit, simultaneously making the playing field unlevel for other businesses,” Campbell said. “Some call the bureau a ‘woke, weaponized’ agency. I tell consumers they better wake up. What these companies know to be true is that the average customer has no weapon to fight back, that customers are either unaware of a scam, or they are unaware and do not have the resources to recoup the money, the house, or the wealth that was taken from them.”

Gutting protections against sketchy companies and banks is something that Musk, President Donald Trump, and the CFPB’s acting director, Russell Vought, must be rejoicing over. Each has been implicated in their fair share of lawsuits. 

Earlier this month, Vought worked behind the scenes to lay off CFPB employees, telling staff to stop working. In response, Vought and others in the Trump administration are being sued by the CFPB’s union. The union’s suit claims that the Trump administration locked employees out of their offices and planned to dismantle the agency after Vought ordered staff to stop working. 

“The predicate to running a ‘more streamlined and efficient bureau’ is that there will continue to be a CFPB,” Vought said in a filing in response on Monday. He also indicated that the agency will look for a new director. 

However, the CFPB union believes serious harm has already been done. 

“Their actions have caused mass confusion and imposed significant and irreparable harm on consumers across the country,” the union said in a statement. 

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