Rep. Maxine Waters [D-Calif.], the chairwoman of the House Financial Services Committee, has called on all financial regulators, including the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, to refrain from enacting “midnight rules” or other administrative actions through Jan. 20, 2021, when President-elect Joe Biden takes office.
The move follows a similar letter that Democrats in the House of Representatives sent to other regulatory agencies, including the Federal Trade Commission and the Federal Communications Commission.
“Such rulemaking and actions undermine our country’s regulatory process, and indeed our democracy, by rushing through controversial policies that could have sweeping effects on families and our economy without transparency, rigor, and legitimacy,” Rep. Waters wrote.
Should one of the regulators who received the letter from Rep. Waters take “any actions” before inauguration day, they will “be met with heavy scrutiny and may be overturned under the Congressional Review Act during the next Congress.”
The CFPB released its debt collection rule on October 30, although the release was not technically official until it was published in the Federal Register, which happened on November 28. It’s not clear whether that would count under what Rep. Waters defined as a “midnight” rule because she did not define what constituted a “midnight” rule in her letter.
The CFPB has said it will release another component of the debt collection rule, dealing with validation notices and time-barred debt disclosures, this month. It remains to be seen whether the release of that rule will be postponed until after inauguration day or if the CFPB will release that part of the debt collection rule as announced.
