Senate Republicans have succeeded in cutting the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s budget nearly in half through the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” which President Donald Trump signed on 4 July. The law lowers the agency’s annual funding cap to 6.5% of the Federal Reserve’s 2009 operating expenses, down from 12%, and redirects unused civil-penalty funds to the Treasury. The reduction threatens the watchdog’s workforce and mission. The White House, acting through CFPB interim director Russell Vought and the Department of Government Efficiency, has already tried to dismiss about 90% of the bureau’s roughly 1,700 employees—moves currently stalled in federal court. Staff say they have been ordered not to conduct routine supervision or enforcement, leaving the bureau largely inoperable. Enforcement activity has slowed sharply. Since January, the agency has cancelled an $80 million settlement with Navy Federal Credit Union and a $48 million order against Toyota’s finance arm, taking only one public action: a $9 million agreement with pawn-shop chain FirstCash. Financial firms welcome the retrenchment, while consumer advocates such as Senator Elizabeth Warren warn it exposes households to predatory practices. Democrats on the Senate Banking Committee are drafting legislation to restore funding when political conditions allow. Until then, other federal and state regulators are expected to fill gaps in consumer-finance oversight, underscoring the broader deregulatory shift under Trump’s second term.