Republicans try to kill agency that protects the public

Trump wants to be Hobbes’s Leviathan. Republicans will find he is Milton’s

Leviathan. Paradise Lost doesn’t say what happens when the beast awakens. Milton

leaves us in suspense. Similarly, Trump is still afloat, but he’s going down, and not just in

his willingness to take a fight into the gutter.

When he goes down, Trump will drag along those tethered to him. For decades,

Americans will decline to forgive the Republicans of the Trump era. As sleeping pilots on

a dangerously anchored boat,  Republicans have a choice. Wake up and cast

off from Trump — speak your conscience, your faith, and your family values — or get

dragged down into the abyss, never to be heard from again.

From Jeffery R. Wilson who teaches in the Writing Program at Harvard University.

A 2013 press release from the United States House Financial Services Committee criticized the CFPB for what was described as a "radical structure" that "is controlled by a single individual who cannot be fired for poor performance and who exercises sole control over the agency, its hiring and its budget." Moreover, the committee alleged a lack of financial transparency and a lack of accountability to Congress or the President. Committee Vice Chairman Patrick McHenry, expressed particular concern about travel costs and a $55 million renovation of CFPB headquarters, stating "$55 million is more than the entire annual construction and acquisition budget for GSA for the totality of federal buildings."[39] In 2012, the majority of GSA's Federal Buildings Fund went to rental costs, totaling $5.2 billion. $50 million was budgeted for construction and acquisition of facilities.[40]

In 2014, some employees and former employees of the CFPB testified before Congress about an alleged culture of racism and sexism at the agency. Former employees testified they were retaliated against for bringing problems to the attention of superiors.[41][42]

As described in articles in Motor Finance and The Wall Street Journal, the CFPB has been criticized for the methodology it uses to identify instances of racial discrimination among auto lenders. Because of legal constraints, the agency used a system to "guess" the race of auto loan applicants based on their last name and listed address. Based on that information, the agency charged several lenders were discriminating against minority applicants and levied large fines and settlements against those companies. Ally Financial paid $98 million in fines and settlement fees in 2013. As the agency's methodology means it can only guess who may be victims of discrimination entitled to settlement funds, as of late 2015, the CFPB had yet to compensate any individuals who were victims of Ally's allegedly discriminatory practices.

Cordray was accused of multiple violations of the Hatch Act as Director of the CFPB and investigated by the Office of Special Counsel (OSC).