Congressman Who Thinks Trump Should Fire CFPB Director Also Runs A Wall Street Revolving Door
House Financial Services Committee Chair Rep. Hensarling Also Has Taken an Astounding $7.38 Million from CFPB-Regulated Industries
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Last night on FOX Business, House Financial Services Chairman Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Wall Street) said that “personnel is policy,” and that President Trump should “move quickly” to dismiss Richard Cordray, director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). In response, Allied Progress noted that Hensarling operates a revolving door between his committee staff and Wall Street. In addition, the Texas congressman has taken an astounding $7.38 million from special interests regulated by the Consumer Bureau. Allied Progress released the following statement from its executive director, Karl Frisch:
“If anyone should be packing their bags, it should be Jeb Hensarling. He has turned the House Financial Services Committee into a revolving door for Wall Street special interests and financial industry insiders. He has allowed his staff to have investments in, and take junkets paid for by, the financial services industry – the very entities these staffers are charged with overseeing.”
“Over the course of his career Hensarling has taking an eye-popping $7.38 million from special interests now regulated by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Now he wants to gut the Bureau and bring back many of the same reckless Wall Street practices that hurt hard-working Americans and caused the Great Recession.”
“Millions of Americans have felt the impact of Richard Cordray’s work as the Consumer Bureau’s director. Under his leadership the CFPB has returned nearly $12 billion to 27 million Americans who have been wronged by credit card companies, payday lenders, debt collectors and other predatory financial industries. Director Cordray’s work is a cause for celebration, not dismissal.”
To speak with Karl Frisch about Hensarling, Cordray, and/or the CFPB, please contact Mike Czin at 202-286-7654 or mczin@skdknick.com.
Background on Hensarling’s Vast Conflicts of Interest
Hensarling’s Financial Services Committee Is a Revolving Door for Wall Street and the Financial Industry
- More than a dozen of Hensarling’s current and former House Financial Services Committee staffers have either worked in the financial industry prior to working for the committee or have left the committee to take jobs in the financial industry. [Allied Progress, Hensarling’s Revolving Door: How the House Financial Services Committee Has Become an Industry Revolving Door with Many Staffers Either Investing in or Having Taken Junkets from the Financial Industry, June 7, 2016]
Hensarling’s Financial Services Committee Staff Have Investments in and Have Taken Junkets Paid for by the Financial Industry
- Many of Hensarling’s current and former House Financial Services Committee staffers have investments in or have taken junkets paid for by the financial industry they are supposed to oversee as committee staff. [Allied Progress, Hensarling’s Revolving Door: How the House Financial Services Committee Has Become an Industry Revolving Door with Many Staffers Either Investing in or Having Taken Junkets from the Financial Industry, June 7, 2016]
Over the Course of His Career, Hensarling Has Taken at Least $7.38 Million From Industries Now Regulated by the CFPB.
- During his time in Congress, Rep. Hensarling has received $7,380,190 from industries now regulated by the CFPB. [ “ Jeb Hensarling, Sector Totals,” Center for Responsive Politics website, accessed February 9, 2017.]
Background on Cordray and the Consumer Bureau
Trump Can’t Just Fire Cordray
- Like other financial regulators, the CFPB director serves for a fixed term. On July 16, 2013, the Senate voted 66-34 across party lines to confirm Richard Cordray to a five-year term as director of the CFPB. [Henry B. Hogue, Marc Labonte, and Baird Webel, “Independence of Federal Financial Regulators,” Congressional Research Service February 24, 2014; S. Senate Roll Call Vote on Nomination Number PN157, Confirmation of Richard Cordray, of Ohio, to be Director of the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection, July 16, 2013, U.S. Senate.gov website; “PN157—Richard Cordray—Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection, Confirmation,” July 16, 2013, Congress.gov website; and Establishment of the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection, 12 USC § 5491 (2010).]
- The law permits the president to remove the director only “for inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office.” [Establishment of the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection, 12 USC § 5491 (2010).]
- While a panel of three federal judges recently ruled 2-1 that the President can fire the director of the CFPB without cause, this decision breaks with eight decades of precedent, and the CFPB has asked for the case to be heard by the full D.C. Circuit. [PHH, et al. v. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, No. 15-1177, Document No. 1646917 (U.S.C.A. Oct. 11, 2016); Brian Simmonds Marshall, “An Easy Case: Why a Federal Appeals Court Should Reject a Constitutional Challenge to the CFPB,” American Constitution Society Blog, April 11, 2016; U.S. Court of Appeals, April 12, 2016.]
There Is Not Cause to Dismiss Cordray
- Under Director Cordray’s leadership, the CFPB has provided nearly $12 billion in relief to 27 million Americans in its first five years. Under his leadership the CFPB has also successfully resolved more than ninety enforcement cases against both big banks and small-time fraudsters. [Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, “Factsheet: Enforcing Federal Consumer Protection Laws,” July 13, 2016; Ben White and Andrew Hanna, “The Permanent Crisis in Banking,” Politico, October 6, 2016.]
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Allied Progress is a nationwide, progressive advocacy organization that uses hard-hitting research and creative campaigns to hold Wall Street and powerful special interests accountable. Since launching in 2015, the organization has led high-profile campaigns on several issues including reforming the payday lending industry and exposing the those working to cripple the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).