WASHINGTON—While the Trump administration continues efforts to curtail funding for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, a federal judge has ordered that funding to continue—a development that one credit union trade group views as positive in one respect.
As the CU Daily reported here, U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson ruled that the law establishing the CFPB clearly authorizes it to draw funding from the Federal Reserve rather than through the annual congressional appropriations process. She rejected the administration’s attempt to block the agency’s financing and reaffirmed the structure Congress created to insulate the bureau from political pressure.
Greg Mesack, SVP of advocacy with America’s Credit Unions, said that while the trade group supports moving CFPB funding into the congressional appropriations process, the key issue is respecting the authority the bureau still holds.
“We don’t have to know what the funding status is, but until there’s anything definitive, there are a number of things ongoing and our view is you have to treat them like a fully funded, fully staffed regulator that is promulgating rules,” Mesack said. “We can’t sit back and say, ‘Well, maybe they don’t have people.’ We have to engage. Our members expect us to be proactive.”
‘A Lot of Authority’
Mesack said the CFPB continues to wield significant authority that must be respected.
“Legislatively and legally, the CFPB still has a lot of authority, and we have to respect that authority,” he said. “We have to engage with them because these rules will have a huge impact on credit unions.”
While the CFPB has seen significant staffing reductions, Mesack said America’s Credit Unions has still been able to receive responses when it reaches out.
“Until Congress actually passes legislation to do away with the CFPB, it needs to be functioning,” Mesack said. “There are authorities with thresholds that need adjustment. Until Congress acts, we need the CFPB to do its job, because there are things that are important to the day-to-day functioning of the financial services industry.”
