President Trump's appointee to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), Kathy Kraninger, is set to testify this week before the House Financial Services Committee, and the results are bound to generate fireworks. There is no love lost between Trump and committee chairwoman Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA), especially with regard to the CFPB.
The tug-of-war over the agency's direction began almost since the moment it was created as part of the Dodd-Frank legislation passed in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. Democrats have considered the CFPB the crown jewel of federal consumer protection, while Republicans have charged it as a rogue and unaccountable bureaucracy, acting arbitrarily and at times illegally to hurt private business.
Read Full Article »