WASHINGTON, DC – As Congressional Republicans pressure President-elect Donald Trump to fire the current Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) before his term expires in July of 2018, U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) and Democratic Senators on the Banking Committee are urging Richard Cordray to continue leading the agency’s fight to protect consumers nationwide.  Today, Reed and a group of Senate Banking Committee Democrats praised Richard Cordray’s work at the CFPB, emphasizing the need for his leadership at the agency in President-elect Donald Trump’s Administration and highlighting his accomplishments as the nation’s top consumer watchdog in protecting servicemembers, seniors, students, and other hardworking Americans from abusive financial products.

With strong backing from Senator Reed, Congress created the CFPB in 2010 to help ensure the financial products and services that Americans depend on every day -- including credit cards, mortgages, and loans -- work better for the people who use them.  Since the CFPB opened for business in 2011, it has helped hold financial institutions accountable for mistreating consumers and worked in coordination with our federal regulators to return nearly $12 billion to the pockets of 29 million Americans who have been cheated by shadowy debt collectors, for-profit schools, and payday lenders, according to the agency.  That total is in addition to tough fines against banks, including the $100 million Wells Fargo paid the federal government for its fraudulent accounts scheme.

Senator Reed also wrote a key provision of the law creating the Office of Service Member Affairs, a consumer watchdog for military personnel that continues to help monitor financial scams targeting service members and their families and respond to complaints.

“All Americans, whatever their political views, want consumers to be protected and to avoid the mistakes and misdeeds that led to the 2008 financial crisis,” said Reed.  “Those calling to fire Director Cordray are ignoring the lessons of the recent past.  Promoting a fair, transparent, and competitive financial marketplace is good for both consumers and businesses.  The bureau has shown it can be effective and Mr. Cordray, who was confirmed on a bipartisan basis, deserves to continue serving.  At the end of Mr. Cordray’s term, the President is welcome to appoint a new director, and the person he appoints will say a lot about how much he cares about protecting working Americans from fraud and abuse.”

Reed, along with U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH), the Banking Committee’s Ranking Member, Robert Menendez (D-NJ), Jon Tester (D-MT), Mark Warner (D-VA), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Joe Donnelly (D-IN), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), and Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), sent a letter to Mr. Cordray, stating: “We hope you continue to lead the charge against companies that take advantage of hardworking Americans.”

Cordray, a former Ohio Attorney General, has led the CFPB as its first confirmed Director since Congress created the agency under the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. His nomination received broad support from attorneys general and other law enforcements groups, including the Fraternal Order of Police, and was approved on a bipartisan basis with 66 votes in the U.S. Senate.

During Cordray’s tenure, the Senators wrote that the CFPB has received praise from civil rights groups, consumer advocates, and financial industry organizations such as the American Financial Services Association, the Consumer Bankers Association, and the Ohio Bankers League.

The full text of the Senators’ letter follows:

The Honorable Richard Cordray
Director
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)
1700 G Street, NW
Washington, D.C. 20552

January 17, 2017

Director Cordray,

Tough law enforcement against financial fraud has been the guiding star of your tenure as Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. We have watched you work closely with Attorneys General from almost every state to make sure no one is above the law when it comes to taking advantage of hardworking Americans all over the country.[1] Your leadership as an effective consumer watchdog at the agency is needed under the incoming administration.

Shortly after you were appointed as the first CFPB Director, the Bureau undertook three enforcement actions that secured more than $525 million in refunds and restitution for people that had been scammed by their credit card companies.[2] Over your tenure, the CFPB has processed more than a million consumer complaints and undertaken more than 150 enforcement actions against mortgage aid schemes that ripped off struggling homeowners, predatory financial firms that set up shop next to military bases to target servicemembers, scam for-profit schools that took advantage of veterans’ benefits, and companies that trained their employees to trap consumers in debt.[3]  The Bureau’s aggressive action against law-breakers has, to date, returned nearly $12 billion to the pockets of 29 million Americans – in addition to tough fines against banks, like the $100 million Wells Fargo paid the government for its unconscionable fake account scheme.[4]

Under your leadership, the CFPB has worked to protect servicemembers, seniors, students, and working families of all backgrounds from predatory financial schemes and illegal discrimination. It is no wonder that Attorneys General and other law enforcement groups, including the National Fraternal Order of Police, endorsed your nomination to lead the Bureau, noting that “Richard Cordray will be an effective partner in combatting fraud and other illegal schemes[.]”[5]

Even according to the financial industry, you have been tough, but fair, during your term as Director.  The American Financial Services Association said, “There is a receptivity [by the CFPB] to learn, and that’s very refreshing. They want to get it right.”[6] The American Bankers Association called the CFPB’s approach to oversight “pretty good news” and the head of the Consumer Bankers Association called the agency “the most accessible of any I’ve ever dealt with in this town.”[7] In its letter of support, the Ohio Bankers League said “Mr. Cordray has demonstrated real ability improving the operating efficiency and effectiveness of each of the agencies he has headed,” while also praising your quick and effective turnaround of the Ohio Attorney General’s office which had “lost direction and morale” as the result of your predecessor’s ethics scandal.[8]

Civil rights groups and consumer advocacy groups have also praised your leadership at the CFPB, both for repairing the Bureau’s flawed employee performance review system and for ensuring fairness in the consumer marketplace through tough enforcement of fair lending laws. The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights said that “The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, under the leadership of Director Cordray, has significantly improved the lives of people across the country, especially in our diverse communities.”[9]

Polling shows that the vast majority of Americans agree that the CFPB has been doing great work. 71% of Americans -- Republicans and Democrats -- approve of the CFPB’s mission and 55% of voters who voted for President-Elect Trump believe that the CFPB should be left alone to do its work or even be given expanded authority to do more.[10]

This is a testament to your time at the CFPB. We hope you continue to lead the charge against companies that take advantage of hardworking Americans.