Jeff Sovern, a law professor at St. John’s University, and one of the authors of the Consumer Law & Policy Blog, has an interesting question: When will the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announce its first enforcement action under acting director Mick Mulvaney?
Mulvaney has been acting director for more than three months and the agency has not announced any enforcement actions in that time. Granted, Mulvaney needed a little time to find out where the paper clips are and how the coffee maker works, and he has gone on record saying that the agency will no longer “push the envelope” when it comes to using the “unparalleled” power given to the CFPB by Congress, but, as Sovern notes, Mulvaney has promised to be “vigorous” and “consistent” in enforcing the laws.
The CFPB brought 42 enforcement actions in 2016, Sovern notes, Had it kept that pace under Mulvaney, the CFPB should have announced 10 or 11 enforcement actions by now. And yet, the only enforcement activity was when it dismissed a case.
