WASHINGTON—The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau plans to resume examinations in 2026, but at a dramatically lower volume and with a narrower scope, Bloomberg Law reports.
CFPB examiners sidelined under the Trump administration are expected to return to work as early as April, with preparations for second-quarter reviews beginning in the coming weeks.
According to Bloomberg Law, the CFPB expects to conduct fewer than 70 exams in 2026, a steep drop from the more than 600 supervisory events per year the agency averaged from fiscal 2020 through 2024.
All future examinations will be conducted virtually, replacing the CFPB’s prior practice of sending teams onsite to review records and interview staff, Bloomberg Law said. The scaled-back approach aligns with a broader pullback across federal banking regulators, who are narrowing their focus to core financial risks. Some CFPB supervisors who are no longer assigned to exams may be redirected to other agency work.
The changes were outlined during a meeting led by senior CFPB officials Victoria Dorfman, Calvin Hagins, and Cassandra Huggins, Bloomberg Law reported. Staff were not permitted to ask questions. Responding to inquiries, a CFPB spokesperson said, “We told you we were performing our statutory duties. Why does this surprise you?”
The exam restart follows the Bureau’s “Humility Pledge,” which signals a shift away from the supervision approach used under former Director Rohit Chopra. Bloomberg Law reports future exams will be shorter than the traditional eight-week cycle and concentrate on clear statutory violations and higher-risk consumer harm, with particular attention to servicemembers, military families, and veterans.
Another major policy change involves ending the use of disparate-impact analysis in examinations, limiting supervisors to finding explicit legal violations rather than relying on statistical evidence of unintentional discrimination. The CFPB is also working on a rule to formally remove disparate impact from enforcement of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, Bloomberg Law said.
The scaled-back exam plan unfolds amid legal and funding uncertainty for the Bureau. Bloomberg Law notes the D.C. Circuit is preparing to hear arguments next month on a challenge to Acting Director Russell Vought’s effort to drastically reduce CFPB staffing, while the agency has requested $145 million from the Federal Reserve following a court order to seek additional funding.
“The concerns raised in this story highlight why the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau must be returned to its clear congressional mandate of consumer protection—not used as a vehicle for punitive regulation or ideological policymaking," contended DCUC Chief Advocacy Officer Jason Stverak. "In recent years, the CFPB has pursued an aggressive agenda driven more by enforcement-first tactics and regulatory expansion than by measurable consumer harm.
"That approach has disproportionately impacted credit unions, particularly those serving military families, by layering on compliance costs, creating legal uncertainty, and discouraging the delivery of affordable financial products," continued Stverak. "DCUC supports rolling back this punitive regulatory posture and restoring balance, transparency, and accountability at the CFPB so the agency focuses on protecting consumers without undermining community-based, member-owned institutions that consistently put consumers first.”