Acting Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ("CFPB") Director Mick Mulvaney did not request funding from the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System ("FRB") for the second quarter of 2018.
In a letter to FRB Chair Janet Yellen, Director Mulvaney explained that he will rely on the CFPB's "reserve fund" at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. He noted that the CFPB has maintained the reserve fund despite "no specific statutory mandate" to do so. As such, Director Mulvaney represented that he intends to "spend down the reserve" before requesting any additional funds from the FRB. He projected CFPB expenses at $145 million for Q2 2018, and said that the reserve fund totals $177.1 million.
Director Mulvaney asserted that by opting to draw from the reserve fund instead of requesting additional FRB funding, the CFPB will reduce the federal deficit "by the amount that the [CFPB] might have requested under different leadership." For the first quarter of 2018, former Director Richard Cordray requested and was granted $217 million in FRB funding.
Commentary / Steven Lofchie
Why would an agency that had the authority to write unlimited checks on the Federal Reserve Board need to have a stockpiled trust fund of $173 million? Cf. Billie Holiday.
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