This week at the CFPB

Federal consumer watchdog plays down changes to its student protection unit

From the Washington Post: A federal consumer watchdog Thursday played down controversial plans to fold the student arm of the agency into another office, following the leak of a memo outlining the move. Mulvaney sent a memo Wednesday informing staffers of a reorganization that will tuck the student office into the bureau’s office of financial education. … [A CFPB spokesperson stated:] “The office in question is not being shuttered, its work continues, personnel are all on the job and working on the same material as they were before. There is a very modest organizational chart change to keep the Bureau in line with the statute but the office is still operating within the same division.” … The office is the only unit in the federal government solely dedicated to protecting student loan borrowers from predatory actors in the financial sector.

Mulvaney to Prioritize Business Costs in CFPB Reorganization

From the Wall Street Journal (subscription required): Mick Mulvaney has tightened his control of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau with a reorganization that will place more emphasis on evaluating the economic cost of the agency’s actions and bring more of its operations under direct supervision of his handpicked staff. In a memo to CFPB staff sent Wednesday, the Trump-appointed acting director announced he would create an “office of cost benefit analysis” reporting to the director that will help direct the bureau’s supervision and enforcement priorities. Businesses and Republicans have pushed for years for cost reviews of regulations and enforcement, arguing some government actions are too costly to businesses or the economy.

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