Acting Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ("CFPB") Mick Mulvaney encouraged Congress to make several changes that would restrain the power of the agency and its director. In a CFPB semi-annual report to Congress, Mr. Mulvaney said that the structure of the CFPB allows it to "ignore due process and abandon the rule of law in favor of bureaucratic fiat and administrative absolutism."
Characterizing the CFPB as "far too powerful, and with precious little oversight of its activities," Mr. Mulvaney outlined four specific requests for Congress to limit the CFPB's power and establish "meaningful accountability":
- require the CFPB to obtain funding through Congressional appropriations (the CFPB currently draws funding from the Federal Reserve);
- require legislative approval for major rules;
- install an independent Inspector General to oversee operations; and
- ensure that the CFPB is accountable to the President.
Mr. Mulvaney was appointed as Acting Director of the CFPB by President Donald Trump following the departure of former Director Richard Cordray. Deputy Director Leandra English challenged the appointment, and her request for a preliminary injunction was denied by a U.S. District Court judge. She is appealing the ruling in the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals.
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