A year ago, high-cost payday loans that preyed upon at-risk borrowers looked to be under assault.

In October 2017, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) finalized federal regulations to force payday lenders to consider whether borrowers could actually pay back their loans. Those rules, combined with a smattering of state laws that capped interest rates, were set to finally constrain the industry’s reach. Even the time-honored gimmick of using internet sites or even Native American reservations to make payday loans nationally without abiding by state consumer protections faced resistance from state and federal law enforcement.

But now that framework is in tatters. CFPB acting director Mick Mulvaney has vowed to reconsider the payday rule and even unsuccessfully joined a payday lender in court to argue against his own agency’s regulation. Either Mulvaney or his Trump-picked successor will likely finish canceling the rule before it takes effect in August 2019. And state protections may be undermined by this week’s announcement that online lenders can apply for national bank charters.