Rep. Jeb Hensarling, fighting for the right of a payday lender to charge 300 percent interest.
Because protecting the American consumer against predatory financial practices by Wall Street, auto dealers, payday lenders, etc. is almost as horrible as giving them affordable health insurance, Republicans are
gearing up for an all-out assault on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
Now that Republicans control both houses of Congress, they have another weapon at their disposal: new subpoena powers they can deploy to blitz the CFPB with document requests.
The goal is obvious: dig out material the GOPers can use to embarrass the agency. And if nothing untoward is discovered, Republican legislators can at least pin down the bureau with onerous paperwork demands. Democrats fear Republicans' new information-gathering abilities will make it easier for the agency's foes to launch witch-hunt style investigations of the CFPB similar to those former House oversight committee chair Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) launched regarding Benghazi and the IRS.
All committees in both the House and the Senate have the right to subpoena federal agencies for information. But until recently, either the most senior committee member from the minority party had to sign off on a subpoena or the entire committee had to vote on the request. In the last Congress, six House committees okayed a rule change giving the committee chair unilateral subpoena power. On Tuesday, the House financial services committee—which has jurisdiction over the CFPB—voted along party lines to grant the same privilege to its Republican chairman, Jeb Hensarling of Texas.
That means Democrats on financial services won't be able to put up meaningful opposition to the latest witch hunt. They will get 48 hours notice before Hensarling issues subpoenas, so that at least they can publicize the fact that the witch hunt is happening. Against an agency that has quietly and effectively
recovered billions of dollars for American consumers. Of course they want to damage it. It's not only a way to attack Elizabeth Warren, the essential creator of the bureau, it's a way to damage a part of government that's doing tremendous good and proving that government works for the people.