His proposed changes to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau would politicize the agency and "make consumer protection dependent on Congress and the White House standing up to the financial industry."
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Mick Mulvaney, the unlawfully appointed Acting Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, issued a report with recommendations that would dramatically diminish the agency’s independence. As reported by Politico, Mulvaney would like “funding the Bureau through congressional appropriations; requiring legislative approval of ‘major’ bureau rules; explicitly ensuring that the director ‘answers to the president in the exercise of executive authority’; and creating an independent inspector general for the CFPB."
Debbie Goldstein, Executive Vice President at the Center for Responsible Lending, issued the following statement:
Ten years after reckless and abusive financial industry behavior caused the Great Recession, Mr. Mulvaney is throwing sand in the gears of effective consumer protection. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was established as an independent agency in order to buttress it from the enormous political pressures of the banking lobby.
Mulvaney's proposed changes would make consumer protection dependent on Congress and the White House standing up to the financial industry. This current White House and Congress, which have not addressed abusive behavior by Equifax, Wells Fargo, and other companies and which are looking to repeal the Consumer Bureau's rule to rein in payday loan debt traps, show why that is a bad idea.
The proposal to have an independent inspector general is a red herring meant to distract from the fact that the Consumer Bureau already has an independent Inspector General at The Federal Reserve overseeing it and that Mulvaney is trying to politicize the Bureau.
For example, Mulvaney has admitted to telling career attorneys to drop a case against Golden Valley, a payday lender that mislead borrowers and charged up to 950% interest. Mulvaney, who was unlawfully appointed to be Acting Director, is supposed to be temporary. The White House should immediately nominate a permanent director who will fulfill the agency's mission.
For more information, or to arrange an interview with a CRL spokesperson on this issue, please contact Matthew Kravitz at matthew.kravitz@responsiblelending.org or 202-349-1859.