OUR SUMMARY OF MULVANEY TO CONGRESS: “Let’s take away the Consumer Bureau’s independence and then make it harder for it to do its job.”

U.S. PIRG

This statement can be attributed to Mike Litt, Consumer Campaign Director at U.S. PIRG, on OMB Director and CFPB Acting Director Mick Mulvaney’s first semi-annual report of the CFPB to Congress.

“As a member of Congress, Mick Mulvaney voted to outright get rid of the Consumer Bureau. Now he is using his platform as acting director to promote his own agenda over the agency’s mission. He wants to take away the Bureau’s independence and then make it harder for it to do its job.

This is the watchdog agency that has restored fairness and competition in the marketplace after a devastating economic collapse less than ten years ago leading to a lingering recession. It has taken over 180 legal actions against companies like Wells Fargo and payday lenders, processed over 1 million consumer complaints, and returned $12 billion to over 26 million consumers.

Recommendations in today’s report, if implemented, would stop the agency from protecting consumers and prevent it from ever being effective in the future.

These are, simply put, attacks against the agency’s independence from Wall Street and industry pressure. Mr. Mulvaney wants the Consumer Bureau to be the only banking regulator that has its budget controlled by Congress. Then, he wants it to be the only agency of any sort that has to get its major rules approved by Congress.

Congress is notorious for its dependence on financial sector campaign contributions. How many consumer protections would Congress approve? How much money would Congress allocate for this watchdog? Will a future director who believes in the agency’s mission be effective if the president can fire them without cause?”

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U.S. PIRG is the federation of state Public Interest Research Groups.  PIRGs are non-profit, non-partisan public interest advocacy organizations that stand up to powerful interests whenever they threaten our health and safety, our financial security, or our right to fully participate in our democratic society. On the web at www.uspirg.org.