The Justice Department said in a legal brief that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will continue to exist, but said instead that the agency will have fewer employees and a reduced budget under the Trump administration.

HUD denied claims that 40% of the administration's workforce will be cut.

The FDIC withdrew its amicus brief supporting Colorado's opt-out law on interest rate exportation, highlighting the agency's more fintech-friendly regulatory approach under acting Chair Travis Hill.

Deal advisors said the Trump administration's tariff threats and the specter of inflation have given some bankers reason to pause on acquisition plans. Momentum could still mount, but uncertainty in Washington is a detriment early in the new year.

While Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., is continuing to try and save the agency she helped create, Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., who benefited from crypto spending in his primary race, is a new ally.

Federal Reserve Gov. Michelle Bowman — who is viewed as a leading contender to be the next vice chair for supervision at the central bank — said changes to the post-financial crisis framework should be a focal point of the Fed's regulatory policy review.

The Trump administration has installed Jeffrey Clark at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Clark, a former environmental lawyer in the Justice Department in the first Trump administration, was indicted as part of the president's efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

The enterprise failed to improve on its net income but did report a steady profit, and got closer to meeting minimum risk-based regulatory capital requirements.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said insurance companies and banks are already pulling out of disaster-prone areas, which could pose problems.

The White House has tapped former Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Director Jonathan McKernan to lead the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and attorney Jonathan Gould to lead the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency late Tuesday.

In comments to reporters, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., underscored what she said was a conflict of interest between Elon Musk's DOGE's actions at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and his business interests with X Money.

The government-sponsored enterprises were not meant to remain in conservatorship permanently, but privatizing them once again must include a new set of rules that minimize market disruptions and maximize their focus on making homeownership affordable.

The Federal Reserve governor said regulators have stifled the banking system's ability to experiment with emerging technologies.

The president's rough-and-tumble trade negotiations have throttled financial markets, causing investors to flock to the safety of dollars and Treasuries. But some economists say this style of policymaking could have hurt the U.S.'s safe haven status in the long run.

Some mortgage stakeholders say Trump's tariffs would make interest rates rise and housing costs shoot up.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who was named to be acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, has told the agency's staff to put a halt to all rules, enforcement actions and hiring.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's Rohit Chopra in a letter to President Donald Trump confirmed that his "term as CFPB Director has concluded."

State banking associations across the country said that Michelle Bowman should be the Federal Reserve vice chair for supervision, not least because she already sits on the Fed board and could start immediately.

Russell Vought, should he be confirmed by the full Senate, would join a short list of those able to lead the CFPB, as his predecessor Mick Mulvaney did, per the requirements of the Vacancies Act.

Mortgage experts were expecting the first FOMC meeting under President Trump would have more significance in the long run than short-term, with some wild cards.