Acting Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Mick Mulvaney effectively dissolved three CFPB advisory councils over a conference call the morning of June 6, claiming that they cost too much.
Members of the Consumer Advisory Board (CAB), the Community Bank Advisory Board, and the Credit Union Advisory Council were informed that their terms were being cut short and they were not welcome to reapply when the boards are reconstituted this fall.
Spokesman Anthony Welcher insisted that the CFPB “will continue to fulfill its statutory obligations to convene the Consumer Advisory Board and will continue to provide forums [sic] for the Community Bank Advisory Council and the Credit Union Advisory Council,” by hosting town hall meetings. The Dodd-Frank Act, which created the CFPB, requires that the CAB meet in person with CFPB leadership twice yearly, but Mulvaney had canceled both meetings this year, prompting Board members to twice send Mulvaney letters expressing their concern.
The Consumer Advisory Board is composed of outside experts and commands less than 0.15% of the agency’s $630.4 million budget.
