SAN FRANCISCO – California Governor Gavin Newsom will appoint Rohit Chopra, former director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, to lead a new state agency focused on consumer protection and business regulation.
Chopra was ousted from the federal bureau soon after President Donald Trump returned to office last year. republicanhad criticized the bureau","Add":{"Target": :"New","Property":(),"url": :"https://www.politico.com/news/2025/02/01/chopra-removed-from-consumer-bureau-00201926","_Identification": :"0000019e-1ee2-d62d-afde-ffef15390000","_Type": :"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_Identification": :"0000019e-1ee2-d62d-afde-ffef15390001","_Type": :"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}”>Criticized by RepublicansWho portrayed it as an irresponsible regulator, and Chopra frequently clashed with the country’s banks and technology giants over everything from “junk fees” to Big Tech’s role in consumer payments.
Newsom, a Democrat and potential presidential candidate who has repeatedly clashed with Trump, described Chopra’s impending appointment as the next step in California’s effort to strengthen consumer protection measures in the wake of the Trump administration’s dismantling of the CFPB.
“As the Trump administration turns its back on consumers, we need strong and bold leaders to protect Californians,” Newsom said in a statement first shared with POLITICO. “Rohit Chopra has shown exactly the same kind of leadership – taking bold action, standing up for working families, and enacting real consumer protections.”
Chopra, a former member of the Federal Trade Commission and a protégé of Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, will be the first secretary of California’s new Business and Consumer Services agency, which will launch on July 1. Newsom announced the agency last summer as part of a reorganization that split the state Business Consumer Services and Housing agency into two separate entities.
“While federal agencies make life more expensive and enrich special interests, California will be firing on all cylinders to ensure that the markets are not rigged against families and small businesses,” Chopra said in a statement.
