Less Than Zero: Brown Accuses Mulvaney of Taking 'Negative Four' Actions to Defend Consumers From Predatory Banks

Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney testifies before the Senate Budget Committee May 25, 2017 in Washington, D.C. (Photo: Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Less Than Zero: Brown Accuses Mulvaney of Taking 'Negative Four' Actions to Defend Consumers From Predatory Banks

"Why are you using your powers to do favors for shady lenders and Wall Street bankers?"

During a Senate hearing Thursday on acting CFPB director Mick Mulvaney's recently unveiled plan to gut the agency he was controversially appointed to run, Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) took Mulvaney to task for both failing to initiate new cases against predatory banks and killing lawsuits against payday lenders--bringing the grand total of CFPB enforcement actions under his tenure to not just down to zero, but to "negative four."

"The number of enforcement actions under his watch: zero," Brown said, citing a recent analysis by the Associated Press. "Well, actually, that's not correct. The number of enforcement actions under his watch is negative four. Not only has the CFPB not initiated a single enforcement action, it's withdrawn lawsuits against four payday lenders that charged consumers triple-digit interest rates."

"Why are you using your powers to do favors for shady lenders and Wall Street bankers?" Brown asked Mulvaney.

Watch:

Join Us: News for people demanding a better world


Common Dreams is powered by optimists who believe in the power of informed and engaged citizens to ignite and enact change to make the world a better place.

We're hundreds of thousands strong, but every single supporter makes the difference.

Your contribution supports this bold media model—free, independent, and dedicated to reporting the facts every day. Stand with us in the fight for economic equality, social justice, human rights, and a more sustainable future. As a people-powered nonprofit news outlet, we cover the issues the corporate media never will. Join with us today!

Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.