Donald Trump cans CFPB chief

Image via AP

President Donald Trump has fired the director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Rohit Chopra, in the latest purge of a Joe Biden administration holdover.

Chopra was one of the more important regulators from the previous Democratic administration who was still on the job since Trump took office on Jan. 20. Chopra’s tenure saw the removal of medical debt from credit reports and limits on overdrafts penalties, all based on the premise that the financial system could be fairer and more competitive in ways that helped consumers. But many in the financial industry viewed his actions as regulatory overreach.

In a social media post Saturday about his departure, Chopra thanked people across the country who “shared their ideas and experiences” with the government’s consumer financial watchdog agency.

“You helped us hold powerful companies & their executives accountable for breaking the law, and you made our work better,” Chopra posted above on X above pictures of his letter announcing that he would no longer lead the bureau.

During Trump’s first term, the Republican had picked Chopra as a Democratic member of the Federal Trade Commission.

Chopra was notified of his firing in an email, according to a person familiar with the notice who was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

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Republished with permission of the Associated Press.