WASHINGTON–The Supreme Court today will hear arguments in a case that challenges the very constitutionality of the funding of the CFPB. But the legal case is also part of much broader scrutiny of the Bureau’s leader, as well, according to one new report.
As the New York Times noted, CFPB Director Rohit Chopra has become one of the “most powerful financial regulators by pairing bark with bite,” and “attacked — often with a hammer — the perpetrators of what he considers injustices against everyday Americans.”
As a result of what proponents hail as long-overdue oversight of financial institutions and what critics blast as heavy-handed regulation, Chopra has become a controversial figure in Washington, with powerful enemies.
“Wall Street may always attack the CFPB, but their opposition has reached, shall we say, frenzied levels with Rohit Chopra at the helm,” Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), chair of the Senate Banking Committee, told the Times.
“If the Supreme Court agrees that the Bureau’s funding is improper, it could, at minimum, force the agency to rely on congressional appropriations. Or the court could follow the Fifth Circuit’s suggestion and obliterate everything the agency has done to date,” the Times reported.
‘Sanguine’ in Response
It noted that Chopra, 41, is “sanguine” about the assault on his agency’s power. “I think this is what one should expect when you’re doing your job,” he told the publication.
His response to the landscape in Washington belies the fact his “detractors are scathing,” with the Times citing an opinion piece by ABA President Rob Nichols that criticized the agency’s “politicized enforcement binge,” calling the CFPB “a regulator gone rogue.” Moreover, noted the Times, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has started a six-figure online ad campaign to denounce Mr. Chopra’s “radical agenda and reckless actions.”
The credit union trade groups also regularly criticize the CFPB for “regulatory over-reach.”
‘Uniquely Motivated’
But in the face of all that, the Times reported, Chopra is “uniquely motivated to move fast, both personally and professionally. A continuing battle with cancer is a daily reminder to him of two things: the stakes of his work and the urgency of seeing it through.”
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