The driving force behind the creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the person revamping that institution right now traded barbs in a series of letters on payday lenders and arbitration.
At the end of January, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, along with Rep. Maxine Waters and four other Congressional Democrats, wrote acting CFPB Director Mick Mulvaney on recent actions seen benefitting payday lenders.
They asked why the CFPB halted implementation of a rule on payday lending, dismissed a case against four payday lenders and halted an investigation into an installment lender. Mulvaney, they pointed out, received $60,000 in contributions from the industry when he was in Congress.
In a letter released Friday directed at Warren, Mulvaney fired back, saying the decisions weren’t based on any motivation other than “a careful examination of the laws and facts particular to any matter.” He further chided Warren in particular for a lack of civil discourse — and insinuated that her vote against repealing the arbitration rule was because of campaign donations she received from trial lawyers.
It's officially gotten ugly between Mick Mulvaney and Sen. Elizabeth Warren pic.twitter.com/pIa80EJNTx
— Ryan Barber (@cryanbarber) February 23, 2018
Warren, as well as Sen. Richard Blumenthal, returned the missive, saying they were disappointed in the response “which, instead of explaining your recent actions, raised questions about our motivations for standing up for consumers.”
The senators said their opposition to overturning the rule that banned individual forced arbitration clauses in consumer financial contracts was built on years of research at the CFPB. They then reattached a letter on payday lenders.