Trump's 100 days by the numbers

Bloomberg News

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump's first 100 days has brought high drama to the normally sleepy corner of Washington that is bank policy and regulation. 

Trump's effort to reshape the federal government has included attempting to shutter the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, reduce the workforce at other banking agencies and pull back oversight of nonbank tech firms and on banks themselves. 

At the same time, banks' practice of dropping customers because of regulatory pressure — a practice known as debanking — has become the industry's biggest political talking point, as the Trump administration (as well as members of his family) embrace cryptocurrency. 

Here's some of the biggest developments that have mattered to bankers in Trump's first 100 days.

Arguably the biggest story for bankers has been the Trump administration's attempt to dismantle the CFPB, a bureau created in the wreckage of the 2008 financial crisis that has irked the financial industry — bankers and nonbankers alike — ever since. 

After Trump ousted former Director Rohit Chopra from the bureau at the end of January (several weeks after many thought Chopra would last in the new administration), the Department of Government Efficiency moved quickly to halt the CFPB's operations and tried to gut its staff. 

Adam Martinez, the chief operating officer of the bureau, testified in federal court that the Department of Government Efficiency's involvement in the bureau in early February felt like a "hostile takeover." 

"It just simply was not normal and the rapidness of the way that it was occurring was overwhelming," he said. "I now realize how much damage can be done within a couple of days to an organization."

Big parts of the Trump administration's plans for the CFPB haven't been able to move forward because of lawsuits — including one filed by the National Treasury Employees Union, which represents CFPB workers — against the bureau and its Trump-appointed leadership. 

U.S. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson has issued injunctions that have prevented the biggest irreversible changes, including planned and attempted massive reductions-in-force and many large scale contract cancelations and data deletion from taking place. The DC Circuit Court Monday barred the administration from any reductions in force until after it hears oral arguments on May 16.

Still, stop work orders issued by acting Director Russell Vought have taken their toll on the operations of the bureau and its ability to perform statutorily-required functions, according to the testimony of CFPB workers in the federal court. 

One of those is reviewing, responding to and processing consumer complaints.

And while many of the changes — especially deregulation and weakening the CFPB's ability to policy banks — have been welcomed by the industry, there's a very large drawback to Trump's first 100 days: Tariffs. 

Bankers have pushed back behind closed doors to sweeping tariffs announced by Trump on April 2, and the president has paused many of the tariffs and issued exceptions for certain industries. 

But markets have continued to whipsaw, and bankers are set to deeply hurt if widespread tariffs go into effect. Bank leaders, including JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon, have taken note. 

Whether the menu of tariffs causes a recession remains in question, but it will slow down growth," Dimon wrote in his annual shareholder letter. "The quicker this issue is resolved, the better."