The Patriot Post® · Obama's CFPB Director Resigns

With the announced resignation of Richard Cordray, director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), Donald Trump has the perfect opportunity to rein in the controversial and unaccountable bureaucracy Democrats created via the financial regulatory behemoth known as the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. Last year, a three-judge panel of the DC Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the CFPB’s structure was unconstitutional due to the fact that it left the director essentially unaccountable to anyone. Unfortunately, that decision was subsequently voided by the full DC Circuit court, allowing the unaccountability to continue.

Trump’s appointment of a new director would at least allow him the opportunity to install someone of his choosing in order to further his deregulation agenda and mitigate the growing overreach of an essentially rogue bureaucracy. What would be even more preferable would be for the Senate to enact legislation to permanently reform the bureaucracy by replacing the director position with a bi-partisan panel subject to Congress.

In the meantime, the White House has begun the process of looking to fill Cordray’s position. Republicans who have long clamored for Trump to remove Cordray are now eager to see new leadership. House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-TX) explained on Wednesday, “We are long overdue for new leadership at the CFPB. The extreme overregulation it imposed on our economy leads to higher costs and less access to financial products and services, particularly for Americans with lower and middle incomes.”