Mulvaney Issues Report Outlining Proposals To Reform CFPB

Earlier this month, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued its semiannual report (the "Report") to the President and Congress. In the Report, Acting CFPB Director Mick Mulvaney proposes to significantly reform the CFPB's structure and oversight. He claims that the structure of the CFPB "ignore[s] due process and abandon[s] the rule of law in favor of bureaucratic fiat and administrative absolutism." (Report 2.) He offers four specific proposals to reform the agency.

First, he wants Congress – not the Federal Reserve – to fund the CFPB through the appropriations process. Second, he proposes that the CFPB obtain congressional approval for the passage of any major rules. Third, he recommends that the CFPB Director answer to the President, which means that the president could fire the CFPB Director "without cause." (Currently, the President may only fire the CFPB Director "with cause.") Finally, he wants to create an independent Inspector General for the