Mulvaney Complains He Would Have Moved CFPB to Cleveland But For the Law
Dialing Up the Smugness to an 11
Watch THIS CLIP [skip to 40:00] from former Acting CFPB Director and current White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney’s August 2nd speech at a South Carolina Republican Party event. Moments after celebrating that many USDA workers quit rather than relocate to the new Kansas offices – “what a wonderful way to streamline government” – he bemoans that he tried to move the CFPB HQ to Cleveland but couldn’t do it legally. Reaction from Allied Progress spokesman Jeremy Funk:
“That’s how far Mulvaney was willing go to ensure as few people as possible were looking out for consumers and illegal industry behavior on his watch at CFPB. This is even more evidence that Mulvaney’s intentions at the CFPB were never to make good policy, but rather to gut this Bureau loathed by Conservatives by any means necessary. If Mulvaney doesn’t think public servants who live in the DC area are real enough Americans, he should consider performing his Chief-of-Staff duties from Cleveland.”
C-SPAN Transcript:
“YOU HEARD ABOUT DRAINING THE SWAMP. WHAT YOU HAVEN’T DONE IS WHAT WE’RE ACTUALLY DOING. I DON’T KNOW IF YOU SAW THE NEWS THE OTHER DAY. BUT THE USDA MOVED TWO OFFICES OUT OF WASHINGTON, D.C. I THINK TO KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI. YES, YOU CAN APPLAUD THAT ONE. BECAUSE THAT’S WHAT WE’VE BEEN TALKING ABOUT DOING. GUESS WHAT HAPPENED? GUESS WHAT HAPPENED. MORE THAN HALF THE PEOPLE QUIT. NOW, IT’S NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE TO FIRE A FEDERAL WORKER, I KNOW THAT BECAUSE A LOT OF THEM WORK FOR ME. AND I’VE TRIED. AND I CAN’T DO IT. BUT SIMPLY SAYING TO THE PEOPLE, YOU KNOW WHAT, WE’RE GOING TO TAKE OUTYOU OUTSIDE THE BUBBLE OUTSIDE THIS LIBERAL HAVEN AND MOVE YOU OUT INTO THE REAL PART OF THE COUNTRY AND THEY QUIT. WHAT A WONDERFUL [SIC] DAY TO STREAMLINE GOVERNMENT AND DO WHAT WE HAVEN’T BEEN ABLE TO DO FOR A LONG TIME. [APPLAUSE] BY THE WAY, WHEN I SAY IT’S REALLY HARD TO DO THAT EVEN THAT WAS DIFFICULT TO DO. AND I RAN THE CFBP. NOTHING AGAINST CLEVELAND BUT IT’S JUST NOT IN WASHINGTON, D.C. I THOUGHT IT WOULD BE BETTER TO GET IT CLOSER TO THE GOVERNMENT BECAUSE WE WERE DOING SERVICES ALL OVER THE PLACE. IT WAS AGAINST THE LAW — AGAINST THE LAW FOR ME TO MOVE THE HEADQUARTERS OF THE CFPB OUT OF WASHINGTON, D.C. THAT’S HOW HARD LIBERALS WORK AT MAKING SURE GOVERNMENT HIVES FOREVER AND THAT IT GETS BIGGER. ELSE WARREN WHEN SHE WROTE DOD FRANK MADE SURE YOU HAD TO HAVE THE HEADQUARTERS IN WASHINGTON, D.C. BECAUSE SHE KNEW THAT IT WOULD NEVER — IT WOULD ALWAYS GET BIGGER IF IT WERE THERE. SHE PAYS FOR THAN EVERYBODY ELSE. SHE HIRED EVERYBODY THERE EXCEPT ONE PERSON. WHEN I GOT THERE, WE TRIED TO CHANGE THAT. IT’S REALLY, REALLY HARD TO DRAIN THE SWAMP. BUT WE’RE WORKING HARD AT IT.”
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