Mulvaney Sides With Equifax Against Consumers
Feb. 5, 2018
Mulvaney Sides With Equifax Against Consumers
Statement of Bartlett Naylor, Financial Policy Advocate, Public Citizen’s Congress Watch Division
Note: Acting director of the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Mick Mulvaney reportedly has pulled back the agency’s investigation into Equifax. Hackers stole personal data from more than 143 million Americans held by the consumer credit reporting firm.
Mulvaney’s decision to drop the Equifax investigation is just the latest example of how he is gutting the CFPB, which Congress established to protect consumers from Wall Street scams. Equifax’s tissue-thin security allowed hackers to steal personal data from more than 140 million Americans, yet Mulvaney appears intent on protecting Equifax instead of consumers.
Mulvaney has halted other similar probes, derailed rules to protect loan shark victims and is bleeding the agency of funding. In picking a new director for the CFPB, Trump must name a true champion of consumer rights, not a government-loathing ideologue who has celebrated shutting down all federal operations.
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