Congress Democrats are charging that CFPB Acting Mick Mulvaney is reversing years of diligent policymaking to control payday lenders—and they allege that action could be tied to campaign contributions he received as a Republican House member.

In a letter to Mulvaney and Deputy Director Leandra English, the Democrats want to know why the agency is reversing its policies.

The four Democrats, led by House Financial Services ranking Democrat Maxine Waters of California and Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts—say that since taking office late last year, Mulvaney has taken action three times to reverse the agency’s diligent policing of payday lenders.

Mulvaney announced last month that the CFPB was re-examining its huge payday lending rule and it filed for dismissal of a suit against four payday lenders.

“The agency barely explained its Payday Rule reversal in a vague two paragraph January 16 press release and it voluntarily dismissed its case with a one-sentence filing in court and no accompanying explanation,” the Democrats said in the letter.

And they said the agency offered no explanation about why it dropped a probe of World Acceptance Corp., an installment loan provider.

“These actions have unwound years of careful CFPB work—all to benefit an industry that has close ties to Mr. Mulvaney and has contributed more than $60,000 to his political campaigns,” the Democrats said.

The CFPB also is under fire for transferring housing discrimination enforcement done by its Office of Fair Lending and Equal Opportunity to the director’s office.

“Fair Lending is a fundamentally important part of the work of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and of a financial system that works for families and communities,” said Lisa Donner, executive director, Americans for Financial Reform “The Office of Fair Lending and Equal Opportunity needs the authority, the resources, and the connections to key levers of change to do its job.”

The CFPB had no comment on the criticism.

Instant Insights /

Dems Demand Answers From Mulvaney on New Payday Lending Policy

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