Chopra To Lead Blue State Consumer Protection Drive

Danger Will Robinson! Rohit Chopra, the former director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), has been hired by a coalition of Democratic state attorneys general to lead a new blue-state consumer protection and affordability initiative targeting abusive business practices.​

Rohit Chopra, the former director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), has been appointed to lead a new blue‑state consumer protection and affordability initiative organized by Democratic state attorneys general. This role positions him as a key strategist for state‑level efforts to counter rising living costs and perceived gaps in federal consumer enforcement.​

What Chopra Will Lead

• Chopra will head the Consumer Protection and Affordability Working Group, a policy arm linked to Democratic state prosecutors and the Democratic Attorneys General Association.​

• He will supervise researchers and policy staff developing playbooks for state attorneys general to crack down on abusive practices by lenders and other businesses.​

Why This Is Happening Now

• Chopra was removed as CFPB director in early 2025 after policy clashes and a shift toward a more deregulatory approach under President Trump.​

• Democratic‑led states view his new role as a way to fill what they see as an enforcement gap created by a narrowed CFPB agenda and reduced federal oversight of consumer finance.​

Main Policy Priorities

• The working group is expected to focus on: unfair or “junk” fees, high‑cost lending, subscription and renewal abuses, data and privacy protections, and affordability issues in financial services, health care, and technology.​

• It will promote strategies for states to strengthen their own consumer laws, expand attorneys general investigative powers, and coordinate multistate enforcement actions against abusive practices.​

Blue States’ Strategic Goals

• Democratic state AGs aim to use this initiative to make life more affordable by targeting practices that drive up overdraft fees, credit card fees, medical debt burdens, and other household costs.​

• The project reflects a broader “cooperative federalism” approach in which state enforcers act as front‑line consumer regulators when federal agencies scale back.​

Chopra’s Background and Influence

• During his CFPB tenure from 2021 to 2025, Chopra became known as a tough regulator on banks and other financial firms, particularly around overdraft fees, credit card late fees, medical debt, and discrimination in lending.​

• He previously helped craft a roadmap, “Strengthening State‑Level Consumer Protections,” which outlined legal theories and tools that states can now deploy—making him a natural choice to architect this state‑led enforcement drive.​

What the new role is

Chopra will head the Consumer Protection and Affordability Working Group, the policy arm of a coalition of Democratic state prosecutors focused on rising living costs and fraud. In this role, he will oversee researchers and policy staff who will craft recommendations for how state attorneys general can use their powers to crack down on abusive conduct by lenders and other companies in their jurisdictions.​

Why Chopra and why now

Chopra was dismissed as CFPB director in February 2025 after repeated clashes with the financial industry and a shift in federal policy under President Trump, and blue states are now moving to fill what they see as a federal enforcement gap. During his CFPB tenure, he pushed an aggressive vision of state-level enforcement of federal consumer laws and helped develop a blueprint and legal theories that states can now deploy independently.​

Likely focus areas

The working group is expected to look at ways for states to combat unfair fees and lending practices, as well as problems in sectors like health care, technology, and digital finance that affect household affordability. It will likely build on Chopra-era guidance and reports that encouraged “cooperative federalism,” in which state attorneys general step up when federal regulators scale back, especially in blue states with strong consumer protection laws.​

Blue-state versus federal approach

With the CFPB expected to narrow its agenda under the Trump administration, Democratic-led states are positioning themselves as primary consumer watchdogs using their own statutes plus remaining federal enforcement authority. Business groups, particularly in finance, have criticized Chopra’s previous approach as regulatory overreach and are likely to scrutinize how far this new blue-state effort pushes state powers.​

The Consumer Protection and Affordability Working Group’s main goals are to help Democratic state attorneys general fight abusive business practices that drive up household costs, especially in lending and other essential markets.​

Core enforcement goal

• Develop strategies for state prosecutors to crack down on exploitative practices by lenders and other businesses operating in their states.​

• Provide enforcement-focused policy ideas that AGs can translate into investigations, lawsuits, and settlements.​

Affordability and cost of living

• Tackle increasing living expenses by targeting practices that make core household costs—such as credit, housing, and other necessities—more expensive or less transparent.​

• Design approaches that link consumer protection enforcement directly to affordability outcomes for residents.​

Sector-specific focus

• Craft comprehensive approaches for problems emerging in sectors like healthcare, technology, and other fast-changing markets that significantly affect consumers’ budgets.​

• Anticipate new forms of fraud and unfair practices in these sectors so state AGs can move proactively rather than only reacting after harms occur.​