...that’s the headline of this article by Steve Benen out this morning.
What is the Consumer Financial Protection Agency (CFPB).. what does it do... And why did republicans try to stop its creation and successfully deny Elizabeth Warren (D) the role as its Director?
This is why:
Erika Eichelberger Mar. 14, 2014 6:00 AM
The new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is already shielding Americans from shady dealings by mortgage lenders, student loan servicers, and credit card companies.
This:
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), the watchdog agency conceived of and established by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) in the wake of the financial crisis, had a hard time getting on its feet.
The GOP tried everythingit could to hobble the bureau, but to no avail. Over the past couple of years, the CFPB has issued dozens of protections shielding consumers from shady practices by mortgage lenders, student loan servicers, and credit card companies.
Here are ten things the CFPB, which was created in 2011, has done to protect the little guy: [good to take a look see at the list of protections]
“The GOP tried everything it could to hobble the bureau...”
So Steve Benen’s question is especially relevant and another important addition to the mountain of evidence against the Trump regime and the GOP covering up the ‘Pay-to-Play’ malfeasance of their chosen executive.
Reading through the list of 10 things the CFPB does to protect the ‘little people’ gives an idea of how much the GOP is willing to surrender and how exposed/vulnerable the Trump regime must be to hold back from laying a hand on Richard Cordray.
The conservative Wall Street Journal described this situation as “the greatest mystery in Washington”
But it’s not.
The Trump regime officially joined a lawsuit designed to neuter the federal consumer watchdog (CFPB) but removing Richard Cordray isn’t part of the effort to “deconstruct the administrative state”. As USA Today reported here:
“the law says the director may be removed by the president only for ‘inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office.’”
..almost as if, for the first time in history, the GOP is constrained by those rules.
The estimable David Dayen has a much more plausible explanation:
[I]f Trump did try to fire Cordray, the director could sue for wrongful termination, arguing that Trump was pursuing a policy goal instead of following the for-cause language in the statute.
As Georgetown law professor Adam Levitin explains, that would lead to a public lawsuit in which Cordray could seek, and possibly get, discovery, including a deposition of the president and maybe a peek at his tax returns, to see if Trump was benefiting himself personally by tossing out a consumer watchdog that affects his personal business interests.
— emphasis added
It’s pretty clear White House wants no part of that.
Steve Benen points out that Richard Cordray might be looking at a run for governor of Ohio in 2018, and may step away from the CFPB to make that run.. but:
The result is an awkward waiting game.
If Trump fires Cordray, that wouldn’t just help further the Democrat’s 2018 ambitions, it’d also open the door to a damaging Cordray lawsuit.
If Trump leaves Cordray alone, the CFPB director will keep doing work the White House hates...
This would be one of those times when Trump’s impulse control problem could prove to be a benefit — by firing Richard Cordray. Then a lawsuit that could expose Trump financial ties. Following that; Richard Cordray, “he’d likely be a strong contender” (according to Steve Benen) as Governor of Ohio (?). Looks like that would be a win win outcome :)