- The Senate has stripped the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s power to monitor digital payment offerings. That could clear the way for Elon Musk’s Twitter/X to broaden its payments plan. The proposal still needs to pass the House, but two senators are calling for an ethics investigation into Musk’s role in the change.
Democratic lawmakers are calling for a federal ethics office probe after the Senate voted to strip the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) of its power to oversee digital platforms.
While the changes must also be approved by the House of Representatives, such an action would prevent the CFPB from monitoring digital payment offerings, as it does with traditional financial institutions. That could open the doors for social media sites like Twitter/X to begin handling people’s money.
Elon Musk, whose so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has been spearheading many of the changes to financial agencies, wants to turn X into an “everything app” that includes peer-to-peer payments and has already struck a deal with Visa.
In a 2023 call with workers, Musk outlined his vision.
“When I say payments, I actually mean someone’s entire financial life,” Musk reportedly said. “If it involves money. It’ll be on our platform. Money or securities or whatever. So, it’s not just like send $20 to my friend. I’m talking about, like, you won’t need a bank account.”
Since a change of this magnitude would seemingly benefit Musk, Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) are calling on the Office of Government Ethics to investigate Musk’s compliance with federal ethics laws, specifically whether he has recused himself from DOGE’s work with the CFPB or been issued ethics waivers.
Musk has been a longtime critic of the CFPB and posted “CFPB RIP” on his X account after the initial stop-work order issued to the agency in February.
“If Mr. Musk has taken actions in his federal role that will benefit his financial interests without receiving appropriate waivers and approvals, he may have violated the criminal conflict of interest statute,” the letter from Warren and Schiff reads.