GOP Senators Call for CFPB Director's Ouster

January 13, 2017
  • Industry News

In a letter to President-elect Donald Trump this week, two GOP senators called for the removal of Richard Cordray as director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Referring to Cordray as "King Richard," Nebraska Senator Ben Sasse said, "Underneath the CFPB's Orwellian acronym is an attack on the American idea that the people who write our laws are accountable to the American people. President-elect Trump has the authority to remove Mr. Cordray and that's exactly what the American people deserve."

Sasse and Utah Senator Mike Lee, who co-signed the letter, wrote that Cordray has "pursued costly regulatory policies that are radically opposed to the Trump administration’s pro-growth agenda."

Although not mentioned in the senators' letter, the CFPB in recent years has played an active role as a regulator in the higher ed sector. The agency provided aggressive oversight in particular of for-profit colleges and student loan servicers. Although criticized by industry groups, consumer advocates have said the CFPB has played a crucial role in highlighting and ending abuses that were previously only investigated at the state level -- if at all.

Read more at Inside Higher Ed: https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2017/01/13/gop-senators-call-cfpb-directors-ouster