Staff tell Guardian ripped-off Americans will have ‘nowhere to turn’ if Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is undone

Donald Trump’s bid to gut the top US consumer watchdog has left the agency unable to protect consumers amid mounting fears of recession, according to workers.

For months the Trump administration has pushed to dismantle the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and fire the vast majority of its workforce. Ripped-off Americans will have “nowhere to turn” if it succeeds, staff told the Guardian.

“The agency that Congress created after the last financial crisis to help prevent another financial crisis is currently completely handcuffed from working,” said one attorney at the CFPB, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation. “And we are on the verge of another major financial crisis, so it’s terrifying.

“The one thing we were created to do we can’t do – at a time when we’re most needed.”