Hypocrisy alert: Critics of CFPB’s so-called lack of accountability prevent CFPB accountability

The Dodd-Frank Act provides that the CFPB “shall” issue a semiannual report on its activities and various other matters and that its director “shall appear before the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Financial Services and the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives at semi-annual hearings” to discuss the Bureau’s semi-annual report to Congress. That is one way the Bureau is accountable to Congress, and ultimately to the American public. So you might expect that those who complain about the Bureau’s lack of accountability would want to ensure both that the Bureau timely issue its semiannual report and that its director testify before Congress. But no: as far as I can tell, the Bureau issued its most recent semiannual report last June and its director last testified before Congress last June. In other words, the Bureau under the leadership of those who complained about its lack of accountability seems not to be interested in complying with existing accountability laws. It sure looks as of their problem is not with a lack of accountability.