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President Trump appointed his budget director, Russell Vogt, as the acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
An early plan by Russell Vogt to reduce the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's staff by 90% was blocked by a federal judge.
The 17 lawsuits dismissed "with prejudice" by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau contained allegations of consumer harm totaling billions of dollars.
Acting Director Russell Vogt has proposed a new staffing plan for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau that would cut enforcement staff by 80% and the total workforce by two-thirds.
The implementation of Russell Vogt's proposed staffing reductions would effectively end the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's ability to conduct enforcement actions.
According to a Bloomberg News investigation, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has abandoned dozens of settlements and lawsuits and cut its number of open investigations in half since Russell Vogt took over.
A settlement between the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and Toyota Motor Credit required the company to refund $48 million to affected customers and pay a $12 million fine.
Toyota Motor Credit had already signed a consent order with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau before successfully working to have the settlement reversed, an action described as highly rare.
In at least 17 instances over the past year, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau under Russell Vogt has dismissed ongoing litigation "with prejudice," legally preventing the agency from ever bringing the same charges again.
A review of cases reversed by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau found that two-thirds involved companies with annual revenues exceeding $500 million.
One-third of the cases reversed by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau involved companies listed in the S&P 500 index.
A lack of enforcement by the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is expected to shift the responsibility for consumer protection to individual states, resulting in an uneven landscape of regulation.