WASHINGTON–Among other issues in Washington this week, credit unions will have their attention on the CFPB—or BCFP--which will be the subject of two separate but similar hearings on Capitol Hill.
On Wednesday, the House Financial Services Committee will hear the “Semi-Annual Report” on what the committee, which is now under Republican control, is again referring to on its website as the “Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection” (BCFP), rather than the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
Under the Trump administration, then acting Director Mick Mulvaney changed the name of the agency, arguing that was the name given the Bureau under the Dodd-Frank Act that created it. Mulvaney, along with many others in the CFPB, had sought to dismantle the agency that he also called a “sick, sad” joke.
That, in turn, led to some petty barbs and exchanges over the official name of the Bureau, which Mulvaney’s successor, Kathy Kraninger, said would again go by CFPB when she took over the job in 2018. The letters outside its entrance representing its abbreviation were shuffled from CFPB to BCFP and then back to CFPB.
On Thursday, the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, which is under Democratic control, will hold a similarly titled hearing, but in this case for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).
In both hearings, BCFP/CFPB Director Rohit Chopra will be the single witness.
NAFCU VP-Legislative Affairs Brad Thaler noted Chopra, who also holds a seat on the FDIC board, could face some questions regarding the alleged “sexualized boys club” at the federal bank regulator that has been the subject of reporting by the Wall Street Journal and prior congressional hearings.
Other Hill Hearings
In addition, CUNA’s deputy chief advocacy officer, Jason Stverak, said the association will also be watching a hearing in the House by the Committee on Education and the Workforce titled “Bad for Business: DoL’s Proposed Overtime Rule,” which he said could be particularly harmful to midsize and smaller credit unions.