House Republicans push for contempt
charges against CFPB director
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[August 05, 2017]
By Pete Schroeder
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republicans in the
U.S. House of Representatives are pushing to hold Consumer Financial
Protection Bureau Director Richard Cordray in contempt of Congress for
refusing to respond sufficiently to congressional subpoenas.
A report released on Friday by Republican staff of the House Financial
Services Committee argued there was "ample evidence" to hold Cordray in
contempt because of his alleged failure to fully comply with subpoena
requests. Republicans on the panel have been fiercely critical of the
CFPB's regulatory work.
The report marked the most direct threat yet to pursue legal action
against Cordray, who was appointed by Democratic former President Barack
Obama after the agency was created under the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial
reform law.
The subpoenas sought records tied to the CFPB's successful efforts to
ban mandatory arbitration clauses from financial contracts, including
communications between CFPB staff and meetings with outside groups.
The ban, hailed by consumer advocates, was finalized in July but
Republicans in Congress are working to overturn it.
Republicans demanded the documents as part of a probe into rulemaking,
and whether the rules regarding mandatory arbitration clauses were
written in a proper fashion.
Mandatory arbitration clauses require consumers to resolve any disputes
through arbitration instead of joining together in class-action
lawsuits.
Republican staff on the House banking panel had suggested in June that
Cordray could face contempt charges for insufficient responses to
congressional queries, but Friday's report took the conflict to new
heights.
A committee spokesman, Jeff Emerson, did not immediately respond to a
request for comment on whether the panel would actually seek contempt
charges.
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Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Richard Cordray speaks
in Washington, October 17, 2014. REUTERS/Larry Downing
In response to the report, CFPB spokeswoman Jen Howard said the
agency had already produced "thousands of pages" in response to the
requests and was endeavoring to do more.
"We will continue our efforts to understand how we can respond to
the committee in a satisfactory manner," she said in a statement to
Reuters.
In the past, Cordray has criticized similar panel subpoenas as
overly broad and confusing.
Representative Jeb Hensarling, who chairs the committee, has been
one of Cordray's outspoken critics, and demanded in the past that
Republican President Donald Trump fire him as director.
Democrats have rallied behind Cordray and the agency since its
creation.
"The Republican attacks on Director Cordray and the Consumer Bureau
are entirely baseless, and there are no grounds at all for them to
hold the Director in contempt," Maxine Waters, the top Democrat on
Hensarling's panel, said in a statement to Reuters.
(Reporting by Pete Schroeder; Editing by Steve Orlofsky and Tom
Brown)
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