“Be careful what you wish for, lest it will come true” Aesop

We will be producing a webinar about the impact of the Midterm Elections and related developments on the consumer financial services industry on December 7 at 1:00 pm, ET. To register, click HERE.

The results of the November 3 midterm elections have dramatically changed the political landscape in Washington. In what is already being characterized as a “Blue Tsunami,” Democrats have seized control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate, delivering a sweeping rebuke to President Trump and his Administration. Democrats have also won state elections throughout the country resulting in there being more blue trifectas (i.e., one party holding both state branches of the state legislature and governor) and blue state attorneys general than previously.

The election results have enormous implications for the consumer financial services industry. But they also reinforce a thesis that we have been developing during Trump 2.0 in our coverage of the changing consumer financial services regulatory environment: The retreat of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has set in motion developments that will have consequences long after the CFPB regains its former stature (which could happen on January 20, 2029). This article builds on our earlier July 22,2026 article entitled “Is a “Private CFPB” Emerging? Or Is a New Consumer Protection Ecosystem Taking Shape?”

Consider one particularly interesting development that preceded the election. The District of Columbia Bar is offering a special continuing legal education program addressing how private law firms can pursue consumer financial services cases that the CFPB has abandoned. The program entitled “Mind the Gap: What the CFPB Has Stopped Doing and the Claims Private Litigants Can Bring Now” ⁠is noteworthy not merely because it recognizes that private plaintiffs’ lawyers may find opportunities in the CFPB’s retreat, but because it illustrates how the private bar is beginning to organize, educate and equip itself to take advantage of those opportunities.

There is something particularly significant about a non-partisan bar association devoting a CLE program to this subject. This is no longer simply a prediction by consumer advocates or defense lawyers about what is happening since the CFPB substantially curtailed its enforcement activities. It is becoming an established area of professional interest and legal education.

The combination of the election results and this growing private enforcement activity points to a fundamental transformation in consumer financial services enforcement. The CFPB may have temporarily retreated, but other governmental and private-sector actors are moving into the space it has left behind.

For more detailed information about these developments, click HERE.