Donald Trump sacks director of financial regulator

US President Donald Trump has sacked the director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Rohit Chopra, in the latest purge of Biden administration staff.

Mr Chopra was one of the more important regulators from the previous Democratic administration who was still in the job since Mr Trump took office on January 20.

His 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 on Saturday about his departure, Mr 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 and their executives accountable for breaking the law, and you made our work better,” Mr Chopra posted on X above pictures of his letter announcing that he would no longer lead the bureau.

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

In his letter, Mr Chopra noted that the bureau was ready to work with the Trump administration.

He said the agency had prepared rules to block Russia, China and others from using data brokers to surveil Americans, and had put forth policies intended to prevent people from losing access to banking services for exercising their constitutional right to express their political or religious views.

The letter noted the CFPB has also analysed Mr Trump’s campaign proposal to cap credit card interest rates.

Mr Chopra was notified of his dismissal in an email from the White House, according to a person familiar with the notice who was not authorised to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Mr Chopra is an ally of Senator Elizabeth Warren, one of Mr Trump’s favourite targets.

The Massachusetts Democrat said in a statement that the agency under Mr Chopra held “Wall Street accountable for cheating hard-working families” and prevented “the de-banking of Americans across the country, including consumers locked out of the financial system due to overdraft fees, religious organisations, and conservatives”.

Under the law, Mr Chopra was to serve a five-year term, which meant he could have stayed on as the CFPB director. But he had publicly stated that he would leave his post if the new president asked.

California Representative Maxine Waters, the top Democrat on the US House Financial Services Committee, said in a statement that Mr Chopra’s dismissal “marks the end of an era of strong consumer protection and the beginning of a plan to end this important agency”.

The bureau was created after the 2008 financial crisis to regulate mortgages, car loans and other consumer finance. It has long been opposed by Republicans and their financial backers.

Last year, the Supreme Court rejected a challenged that could have undermined the bureau, ruling that the way it is is funded does not violate the Constitution.

Unlike most federal agencies, the bureau does not rely on the annual budget process in Congress, but is funded directly by the Federal Reserve.