SEC Enforcement at 20-Year Low and CFPB Data Broker Rule Withdrawn: Deregulation Hits Households
SEC enforcement actions fell to 456 in FY2025—the lowest in at least 20 years, a 22% decline per Sidley Austin's analysis—while the CFPB formally withdrew its proposed data broker rule via Federal Register notice on May 15, 2025. These moves align with Project 2025's blueprint and directly affect retail investors and consumer privacy, but the draft needs a sourced dollar figure or household impact count.
Project 2025's financial deregulation is not a future threat—it's already on the books. Under Chair Paul Atkins, the SEC filed just 456 enforcement actions in fiscal year 2025, the lowest count in at least 20 years, according to Sidley Austin's analysis of the agency's own enforcement report. That's a nearly 22% drop from FY 2024, a collapse that Better Markets has called a 'pathetic and indefensible dereliction of duty' that leaves retail investors exposed to fraud. Sidley Austin, a corporate law firm, explicitly notes the SEC described this as a 'course correction' from prior enforcement priorities—an unmistakable signal that the agency has stepped back from its core watchdog role.
Simultaneously, under Acting Director Russell Vought, the CFPB formally withdrew its proposed data broker rule—'Protecting Americans from Harmful Data Broker Practices'—via notice in the Federal Register on May 15, 2025. The rule would have classified data brokers as consumer reporting agencies under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, requiring accuracy, consumer access, and consent before selling sensitive data. The withdrawal notice stated the CFPB found rulemaking 'not necessary or appropriate at this time' and cited misalignment with its current interpretation of the FCRA. While the proposed rule had been open for public comment in December 2024, the withdrawal itself bypassed any new comment period—a stark illustration of the agency's reversal on consumer privacy protection.
These actions directly match Project 2025's deregulatory playbook, as NBC News and other sources have tied the plan to CFPB abolition and SEC rollbacks. The alternative is clear: restore SEC enforcement staffing to pre-2025 levels (as Better Markets urged), reinstate the data broker rule through a new, transparent rulemaking aligned with the FCRA, and mandate climate-risk disclosure so investors can assess material financial risks. Without these guardrails, the financial system continues to privatize gains and socialize risk—enriching corporate insiders while defrauding households.
The humanitarian alternative
To democratize space entrepreneurship without subsidizing monopoly, Congress should expand the NASA Venture Class Launch Services program to fund multiple competing launch providers, similar to the COTS model that seeded SpaceX originally. Additionally, a public space infrastructure fund, capitalized by a windfall tax on IPO proceeds above $50 billion, could invest in resilient satellite networks for climate monitoring and rural broadband, ensuring public returns from publicly funded space assets. Retail investors deserve access to truly competitive, transparent investment vehicles—not a celebrity-controlled firm with negative earnings—so the SEC should require SpaceX to adopt a single-class structure and report audited quarterly earnings for two years before the IPO.
Falsifiable predictions
What this entry claims will happen, and what data would prove it wrong. The Reckoner revisits these against current reality.
- Within six months of the IPO, SpaceX's stock will trade at or below its offering price, as negative earnings and governance concerns deter long-term investors.
- Musk's public comments about Mars or AI will cause at least two single-day swings of 5% or more in the first 90 days.
Grounded in
- The SpaceX IPO Could Create a New Wave of Millionaires. Investing in It Isn't the Only Way to Play.
- SpaceX IPO could be bad news for Tesla stock, investors warn
- SpaceX IPO: What retail investors need to know before buying shares
- SpaceX Speeds Up IPO Listing: Analyst Warns Of 'Elon Musk Effect'
- 6 Charts on SpaceX's Pre-IPO Financials - Morningstar
- Musk's SpaceX Reveals Its Finances for the First Time
- Why the SpaceX IPO Is Unlike Any Other - YouTube
Original source — excerpted
news The SpaceX IPO is great for Elon Musk and terrible for you"is a reporter who writes about tech, money, and human behavior. She joined The Verge in 2014 as science editor. Previously, she was a reporter at Bloomberg. I ..."