You have to wonder whether the people running the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) really want to help or protect consumers. The Trump administration’s actions seem to undermine the bureau’s mission

The latest attack on consumer protection came when the CFPB fired consumer advocates appointed to make recommendations and help the watchdog bureau do its job. 

Just a little history here. The CFPB became the go-to place in government to protect consumers harmed by big banks, financial institutions and predators after Congress established the bureau in response to the 2008 financial meltdown.

You may remember that the CFPB forced Wells Fargo to pay restitution and fines totaling $175 million for opening credit card accounts for 1.5 million customers without their authorization and then charging them fees.  The CFPB also went after other big banks, including  J.P. Morgan Chase, for illegal credit card practices, and that brought a $309 million fine. 

It has gone after Citibank, debt collectors, payday lenders, mortgage companies and the big credit bureaus like Equifax, Experian and TransUnion, which collect our financial data but often fail to respond to our complaints or inquiries adequately.

 

The Trump administration has nibbled away at the bureau’s work and the latest move dispirited the advocates committed to helping consumers. Ann Baddour, chairperson of the Consumer Advisory Board (CAB), said, “Firing the current CAB members is another move indicating Acting Director Mick Mulvaney is only interested in obtaining views from his inner circle, and has no interest in hearing the perspectives of those who work with struggling American families.”

Congress created the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in 2010 as part of the Dodd-Frank protections after the 2008 financial meltdown. The advisory boards were included in law and required to meet several times a year.

But this year, Mulvaney cancelled the meetings. Two days before he fired the consumer advocates, they talked to reporters about the importance of following the law, holding the meetings and taking advice from knowledgable advocates.

The advocates share what the bureau told them after they were fired.  They said, “Anthony Welcher, a political hire brought in by Acting Director Mick Mulvaney, cited these reasons for the termination:

• The Bureau wanted to save a few hundred thousand dollars, which is estimated to be less than .08 percent of the agency’s overall budget. This is despite the fact that members on today’s call offered to pay to attend meetings from their own budgets.

• The Bureau cited responses to a Request for Information (RFI) on External Engagement as a justification for the change. When pressed, Welcher admitted that the decision was made before the Request for Information had closed, and he could point to no RFI response calling for dissolving the advisory boards. A review of the RFI responses reveals there was no response calling for a restructuring or dissolution of the current advisory boards.

• The Bureau cited wanting a more diverse, smaller and inclusive group of people involved. Yet, the advisory groups are inherently a small, diverse group of members, based on the Dodd-Frank Act. Members questioned how Acting Director Mulvaney could have come to this conclusion based on the fact that there had been no meaningful interaction with members.

• One of the additional explanations for the firing of the Advisory Board members is a “new” plan to hold Town Hall meetings and intimate roundtable discussions — two long-standing practices of the CFPB — and therefore not a justification for firing over 60 committed and diverse volunteers.”

Call your U.S. Senators and Representative if you think the CFPB needs to continue to do its job of protecting consumers.

The U.S. Capitol switchboard will connect to you to your senator or representative. 202 224 3121