Mulvaney Wants to Drain CFPB’s Emergency Reserve Fund
WASHINGTON, D.C. – It was reported today that Mick Mulvaney, installed by Trump as “acting director” of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), is taking yet another leap forward in his quest to dismantle the Bureau by requesting zero dollars from the Federal Reserve to fund the Bureau and instead draining its emergency “reserve fund.” This follows yesterday’s news that Mulvaney issued “a call for evidence” asking the Wall Street special interests, big banks and predatory lenders regulated by the CFPB to assist him with determining how the agency should be run. Here’s our statement on the latest development:
“There can be no clearer signal of Mick Mulvaney’s intent to defang and dismantle the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau than his request of zero dollars in funding and his decision to instead drain the Bureau’s reserve set up to provide funding during emergencies. So far, this week the ‘acting director’ has announced plans to gut the payday lending rule, asked big banks and Wall Street special interests how they would like to destroy the agency from the inside and now he’s screwing with its funding. What he hasn’t done is offer one announcement about actions taken to protect consumers,” said Karl Frisch, executive director of Allied Progress.
He continued, “Mulvaney has taken $1.28 million from industries that are regulated by the CFPB and those investments are clearly paying off. He is taking every step he can to dismantle the CFPB and allow those industries to run roughshod over consumers. We deserve better. It is time for President Trump to nominate a new director who will stand up for hard working Americans and protect them from financial bad actors.”
Background on CFPB Funding:
The CFPB Does Not Rely on Tax Dollars, It Is “Self-Financed” Through the Federal Reserve
- “The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s funding comes not from Congress but from the Federal Reserve.” [Suzy Khimm, “Why the CFPB’s funding is guaranteed,” The Washington Post, 02/15/12]
- The Federal Reserve is “self-financed, largely with income on securities such as government bonds[.]” [Karen Weise, “Republican Attacks on a CFPB Office Renovation Don’t Add Up,” Bloomberg, 07/16/14]
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