Fired CFPB technology team was responsible for investigating financial wrongdoing, out-of-control AI, and consumer scams from Big Tech platforms
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, The Tech Oversight Project slammed President Donald Trump for firing over 20 technologists at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which gutted the team responsible for protecting Americans from Big Tech’s reckless financial products and platform scams that bilk people out of tens of millions per year. The letter announcing the firings directly references the Elon Musk-led “Department of Government Efficiency” culling of the federal workforce as the reason for the firing.
“Firing the very people responsible for investigating Big Tech is exactly the opposite of what Trump promised his voters he’d do, and despite choosing some antitrust champions in his administration, it smacks of pay to play. Musk spent over a quarter of a billion dollars to help get Trump elected, and it appears the reward for that investment is being able to get rid of his future regulators. These actions will mean more Americans will be scammed out of their hard-earned money, and Trump and Musk will be to blame,” said Sacha Haworth, Executive Director of The Tech Oversight Project.
Earlier this week, Navigator Research released a new poll showing that the American people are deeply concerned about Big Tech’s noxious influence on our country and the Trump Administration. The findings also show that Big Tech’s corruption and influence peddling ranks among their biggest concerns about Trump’s first actions since taking office – only trailing increased prices due to tariffs.
Findings from Navigator Research:
- 50 percent of Democrats and 33 percent of independents agree that Trump’s policies are deeply corrupt, putting him in the pockets of billionaire CEOs like Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg who are using their power and money to influence his decisions, instead of looking out for American families.
- 69 percent of Americans believe tech CEOs like Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, and Jeff Bezos will have a lot or some influence in the Trump administration, with more seeing their influence as a bad thing than a good thing (net -13; 37 percent good thing – 50 percent bad thing).
- 41 percent are most concerned that tech CEO influence will lead to Trump looking after billionaires instead of the middle class, and 32 percent are most concerned that their influence will lead to the Republican Party controlling what news we get online.
- A majority of Democrats (net -68; 12 percent good thing – 80 percent bad thing) and a plurality of independents (net -20; 27 percent good thing – 47 percent bad thing) believe tech CEO influence in the Trump administration will be a bad thing, while two in three Republicans view it more positively (net +45; 65 percent good thing – 20 percent bad thing).
- Favorability ratings of several tech CEOs tested in this survey are all underwater, including Mark Zuckerberg (net -24; 30 percent favorable – 54 percent unfavorable), Jeff Bezos (net -20; 26 percent favorable – 46 percent unfavorable), and Elon Musk (net -14; 39 percent favorable – 53 percent unfavorable).
- Musk has seen a dip in favorability since December (from net -1 to net -14), including among Republicans (from net +61 to net +47), independents (from net -18 to net -20), and Democrats (from net -55 to net -70).