Data brokers can keep selling your social security number, says new CFPB chief

Treasure Secretary Scott Bessent has been named the Acting Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), the bureau announced today. Bessent quickly instructed the agency to “to stop all rulemaking, communications, litigation, and other activities,” reports Bloomberg Law. A source inside the CFPB told Bloomberg Law that his order “appeared to shut down the CFPB altogether for the time being.” The email containing the order told the bureau to stop work on new regulation, enforcement of existing rules, investigation of companies, or issue “public communications of any type,” The Washington Post reported. That could mean the agency won’t move forward with a pending rule, set to go into effect March 3rd, that would’ve forbidden data brokers from selling sensitive personal information, including Social Security numbers. The CFPB did not immediately respond to The Verge’s request for comment. The news comes as Bessent, who Trump named Treasury Secretary last week, is under scrutiny over his role in reportedly allowing Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to access the US federal payment system. Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren sent him a letter looking for an explanation as to why he let that happen. Bessent, a former hedge fund manager, says he looks “forward to working with the CFPB to advance President Trump’s agenda to lower costs for the American people and accelerate economic growth.” Update February 3rd: Added reporting from The Washington Post.