‘We are here to fight back’: hundreds protest suspension of US financial watchdog

Lawmakers Elizabeth Warren and Maxine Waters join rally after Trump administration suspends all CFPB operations

Chants of let us work!" rang out across the courtyard of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) blocks away from the White House on Monday, as hundreds of angry protesters rallied against the Trump administration's decision to suspend all operations at the US's top financial watchdog - an agency that has clawed back more than $21bn from Wall Street for defrauded consumers.

The demonstration came after Russell Vought, Trump's newly installed acting director of the agency, ordered all CFPB staff to stand down and stay away from the office in what critics are calling a brazen attempt to defang financial industry oversight.