Good Riddance to Finance Regulator Richard Cordray

The American Spectator shared an article detailing the resignation of former Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Richard Cordray. The article is written by John Berlau.

Rep. Ann Wagner (R-MO) may have had the best response to yesterday’s resignation announcement by Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Richard Cordray. The statement, sent to reporters and posted on her website consisted of just two words: “Good riddance.”

Wagner provided links to give some context, and no example shows Cordray’s general arrogance better than his answer to a basic question Wagner asked about CFPB spending and priorities. When she asked him in a hearing about the CFPB’s renovations of its new building that so far has cost $215 million, Cordray replied, “Why does that matter to you?”

The resignation of Cordray — appointed by President Obama to the CFPB first as a likely illegal “recess” appointment in 2012 and then confirmed for a five-year term in 2013, when then-Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid abolished the filibuster for nominees — is long overdue. The CFPB under Cordray’s tenure has failed consumers, as it has issued massively expensive regulations that have crushed Main Street banks and credit unions while ignoring the misdeeds at Wells Fargo even as state agencies were tackling it.

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Cordray’s CFPB long escaped accountability because of the defective and unconstitutional structure of the CFPB. Congress and the courts must strengthen the CFPB’s accountability by making it subject to appropriations from Congress and giving the president the power to remove the director “at will,” as in the case of a Cabinet secretary.

President Trump must also immediately nominate and the Senate must swiftly confirm a new director who will begin the process of removing the red tape harming consumers and Main Street financial institutions and focusing the CFPB’s resources on combating genuine fraud and malfeasance. Consumers, entrepreneurs, small banks and credit unions need relief now from the CFPB’s stifling red tape.

Read the article here or at The American Spectator.