CLEVELAND, OH – U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) – ranking member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs – said today Deputy Director Leandra English is legally the acting head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) until the President nominates, and the Senate confirms, a permanent Director. Brown opposes the White House’s attempt to undermine the consumer watchdog agency by naming Budget Director Mick Mulvaney as the acting head in a part-time capacity. Brown says the Dodd-Frank law, which created CFPB, is clear that the Deputy Director shall assume the role of Acting Director. He called on the White House to swiftly nominate a permanent Director who can win bipartisan confirmation in the Senate. 

“Independence is critical to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s ability to aggressively and successfully fight for hardworking Americans and against Wall Street abuses. That’s why the Dodd-Frank law is clear that Deputy Director English is the legal Acting Director, and she must be allowed to continue the agency’s work standing up for working families against financial abuse until a permanent Director is confirmed by the Senate,” Brown said. “Americans deserve a full-time cop on the beat with a proven track record of fighting for them, not a part-time Director with a record of working for Wall Street.”

Brown pointed out that this is not the first time the White House has attempted to circumvent Congress in order to install a Wall Street-friendly appointee in a key oversight position. In October, Brown joined other members of the Banking Committee in asking the independent Inspector General for the Treasury Department to investigate whether Keith Noreika was illegally acting as head of the Office of the Comptroller of Currency.

The CFPB was created by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act after the financial crisis wiped out trillions of dollars in middle class wealth and millions of jobs. Under the CFPB’s first Director, the agency returned more than $12 billion to 30 million Americans who were harmed by shady financial practices.

 

 

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