by Jeff Sovern
Here, in Morning Money. Excerpt:
THE POLITICS of firing Cordray would be tough for Trump. He could argue that the CFPB is an unaccountable agency lead by a too-powerful single director. Banking groups, especially those representing smaller and midsize institutions, would be would be thrilled.
But the CFPB polls pretty highly and the left would go absolutely berserk and the legal battle might not go well for the White House and could distract from broader efforts on tax, immigration and health care reform. Still, the betting line seems to be that Trump will do it.
Washington insiders famously "leak" trial balloons concerning what they want to happen, rather than about what they have inside information suggesting will happen, so perhaps these rumors are just such an attempt to influence the Trump administration, instead of informed statements. But if the president actually fires Cordray, that act alone will convert him from someone standing up to a rigged system, to someone who personifies the rigged system. For more, see here. I realize that the nature of this game involves anonymous statements, but I wish we knew who the sources for these rumors are.
