Subscribe to Our Newsletter
SACRAMENTO -- California Attorney General Xavier Becerra today issued the following statement on the news that legally-challenged Acting Director Mick Mulvaney of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has decided to request a total of $0 for the second-quarter budget of the agency he professes to run:
“Mick Mulvaney, whose position as Acting Director of CFPB is under a legal cloud, had previously described the CFPB as a ‘sick, sad joke.’ After disclosing his maneuver to defund the watchdog agency that defends consumers against financial abuse, at least we know now who the real target of his joke is," said Attorney General Becerra.
"Financial fraud and abuse is no joke. In 2008, millions of Americans lost their jobs and their homes because of the big banks' meltdown as we sank into the Great Recession. Wall Street got its bailout while Americans suffered," warned General Becerra. "Why should Americans be the butt of another joke -- this time the Mulvaney rip-off of consumer oversight of the very same big banks? In California, we'll defend our consumers against financial fraud and abuse, even if Trump officials go AWOL.”
Under the leadership of former Director Richard Cordray, the CFPB set new standards for protecting mortgage and student borrowers and brought landmark actions against big banks. Director Cordray led CFPB's reform of payday lending practices, bank overdraft fee practices, and for-profit college billing practices. The California Department of Justice worked in partnership with CFPB with great success.
Under Attorney General Becerra, California has challenged in court large banks, retailers with abusive credit practices, and predatory for-profit colleges.