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Hensarling Discusses How to Bring Accountability to the CFPB

Puzzle Compliance Regulation“The most powerful and least accountable Washington bureaucracy in history” is what Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling called the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) in a blog post on Tuesday. In the post, Hensarling acknowledges the bureau’s important mission, but notes the shortcomings that it has faced.

“While the agency has an important mission, it was purposefully designed by Democrats to evade checks and balances that apply to other regulatory agencies, including those responsible for consumer and investor protection,” Hensarling states.

For several months, the Financial Services Committee has been calling the CFPB’s constitutionality into question. Most recently, the committee, led by Chairman Hensarling, conducted a hearing attended by CFPB Director Richard Cordray as a witness.

During the hearing, Hensarling specifically noted a lack of accountability, and a lack of success, wihin the CFPB. However, Cordray had a chance to defend himself and the Bureau.

“Years of uneven federal oversight on behalf of consumers allowed a lot of bad behavior to go unchecked,” Cordray stated in his prepared hearing remarks. “As the independent consumer watchdog, we are solely focused on the job Congress gave us of assuring that these markets are fair, transparent, and competitive and consumers have access to sound financial products and services.”

In his blog post, Hensarling still finds fault in the CFPB’s structure, and in Cordray’s leadership. According to Hensarling, Cordray “recklessly ignores the due process protections that have been deeply rooted in our American legal system for centuries.”

Hensarling further states that Cordray’s power is too far-reaching, essentially giving him the power to alter the law at will. Rather than just a “cop on the beat,” Hensarling states that the Bureau has become “judge, jury and Congress all rolled into one.”

Through the Financial CHOICE act, Hensarling hopes the CFPB will become the “cop on the beat” its supporters desire.

“It would be far easier to secure criminal convictions if the Constitution didn’t require probable cause for warrants or protect Americans against unreasonable search and seizure, but few would argue that justice would be served,” Hensarling said. “In the same way, the success of the CFPB must be judged both on how it protects consumers and on whether it follows the Constitution.”

About Author: Seth Welborn

Seth Welborn is a contributing writer for DS News. He is a Harding University graduate with a degree in English and a minor in writing, and has studied abroad in Athens, Greece. An East Texas native, he also works part-time as a photographer.
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