Democrats call for stop to CFPB winddown

Nearly 200 Democrats and independent members of Congress recently filed an amicus brief calling on courts to stop what they see as the Trump administration’s push to dismantle the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. .The amicus brief was filed Feb. 9, 15 days before a U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit hearing on whether the Trump administration can take down or significantly weaken the bureau. During the Trump administration’s second term, CFPB Acting Director Russell Vought laid off the majority of bureau staff, shuttered bureau offices and did not request funding for the agency from the Federal Reserve. “Because the power to abolish executive branch agencies belongs to Congress, Appellants cannot unilaterally shutter the CFPB nor render it incapable of fulfilling its statutory obligations,” the lawmakers wrote. “Allowing them to do so would not only irreparably harm America’s consumers and the national economy but also wreak havoc on our constitutional separation of powers.” The bureau has played an important role in protecting consumers at the federal level since it was established 15 years ago, they wrote, through fining some of the largest banks and nonbanks over alleged abuses. Democrats on the Senate Banking Committee have alleged that the administration’s work to close the CFPB has cost Americans up to $19 billion over the past year.The amicus brief was filed as 22 states and multiple nonprofits sue to prevent the Trump administration from refusing funding the CFPB from the Federal Reserve. A federal judge in December turned back the administration’s argument, and required the acting director to request funds to keep the agency functioning. The court has ordered the agency to be funded through March amid the lawsuit.