Maxine Waters: Mulvaney was brought in to 'basically destroy' the CFPB

On Wednesday, Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) previewed some sharp questions that her committee is ready to ask leaders in the Trump administration and in the business community as the House Committee on Financial Services embarks on a series of hearings and legislative efforts in the weeks ahead.

Waters chairs the House Financial Services Committee, which includes high-profile freshman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard. The committee is now considering legislation to undo recent changes at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the government’s top consumer watchdog, with a special aim at Mick Mulvaney, Trump's chief of staff who ran the agency for 13 months.

"The bill reverses the harmful structural changes Mulvaney and his deputies made to damage the agency one by one" Waters said. She added that Mulvaney was brought in to "basically destroy and undermine the CFPB."

This legislation, which is not expected to reach President Trump's desk, would reverse a range of Mulvaney's decisions. Much of the agency’s activities had been reined in under Mulvaney.

Waters appeared only with Democrats on her committee and offered no changes to gain Republican support. "We think Republicans should be just as concerned about the consumers as we are" she said.

Mulvaney's successor, Kathy Kraninger, is scheduled to appear before Chairwoman Waters on Thursday. Waters withheld judgment on Kraninger, saying "we will be asking all of the questions that our members deem necessary to find out whether or not she is on the road to restoring much of the damage that was done by Mr. Mulvaney," adding: "we will see where she stands."

Waters also discussed her efforts to bring CEOs before the committee. Wells Fargo CEO Timothy J. Sloan is scheduled to appear before the committee next week, according to a Wells Fargo spokesman. "We are poised to have significant hearings" Waters said on her efforts with overall efforts to bring "bad actor" CEOs before her committee.

Other hearings scheduled by the committee will focus on the SEC’s "Best Interest" rule, the administration of disaster recovery funds, and deterring financial crimes.

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