Mulvaney's budget request for the CFPB: $0
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau doesn’t need any money, acting director Mick Mulvaney informed Fed Chair Janet Yellen this week.
Mulvaney, who took charge of the CFPB in November, made the unusual budget request in a letter sent Wednesday.
“This letter is to inform you that for Second Quarter of Fiscal Year 2018, the Bureau is requesting $0,” Mulvaney wrote.
The Federal Reserve normally transfers funds each quarter based on the CFPB’s required budget. Based on the letter, the CFPB’s fund at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York has $177.1 million, more than projected second-quarter expenses of $145 million. Mulvaney said he sees “no practical reason” to maintain a large “reserve fund,” adding that the CFPB can “successfully perform its functions” without requesting additional funds.
“While this approximately $145 million may not make much of a dent in the deficit, the men and women at the Bureau are proud to do their part to be responsible stewards of taxpayer dollars,” he said.
Mulvaney, President Donald Trump and other Republicans have been critical of the agency, arguing that it’s unaccountable and wields too much power to impose new regulations on banks and credit card companies. Earlier this week, in addition to requesting zero funds for the next fiscal quarter, Mulvaney put the CFPB’s entire operation under review.
The CFPB, created as a result of the Dodd-Frank bill, was established in 2011.
A federal credit union critical of Trump’s move to install Mulvaney as acting head of the CFPB filed a lawsuit late last year to stop the White House budget director from taking the helm. However, a U.S. District Court judge ruled in favor of the administration, rejecting a temporary restraining order.