Republicans are praising Mick Mulvaney’s leadership of the nation’s consumer financial watchdog, while Democrats are raising concerns that he’s done more to protect financial companies than consumers, as Mulvaney appears before a House committee Wednesday.
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The dynamic represents a reversal from when the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was led by Obama-appointee Richard Cordray. Democrats often saluted Cordray’s efforts to win financial relief for consumers while Republicans complained that he overstepped his mandate.
President Trump appointed Mulvaney acting director of the CFPB in late November after Cordray resigned. Since Mulvaney took over, the bureau has not issued an enforcement action against any financial company and has dropped cases against payday lenders.
In prepared testimony for the House Financial Services Committee, Mulvaney repeated the longstanding criticism that the CFPB, created following the financial crisis, is too independent and its director too powerful. He outlines steps to make the bureau more accountable to Congress and the president.
Rep. Jeb Hensarling, chairman of the committee, said in his opening remarks that while he still feels the CFPB is an unaccountable, unconstitutional agency, Mulvaney’s actions since taking over have been a “welcome change.”
Hensarling, R-Texas, has sponsored several bills that would either abolish or severely restrict the bureau’s ability.
