Tom Ramstack – AHN News Legal Correspondent
Washington, DC, United States (AHN) – Republicans in Congress Thursday took aim at the Obama administration’s plan for a new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau scheduled to begin operating next week.
A hearing intended to question the architect of the agency about how it would operate turned into a shouting match that caused a half-hour delay in her testimony.
Democrats on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee said they should be investigating aggressive bank foreclosures of subprime mortgages instead of subjecting Elizabeth Warren, a White House adviser, to another round of hostile questioning.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is a federal agency being created to protect consumers from financial institutions that could take advantage of them.
The agency enforces regulations against financial institutions to avoid risky loans and investments for their customers. The agency also seeks to simplify the lending process for consumers.
“We are opposed to complicated forms and fine print,” Warren said in her opening remarks to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Thursday.
Warren, a Harvard professor, was assigned by President Barack Obama to organize the agency. He has not nominated her to head the agency in apparent recognition she would be unlikely to win approval from the Republican-controlled Congress.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is an outgrowth of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, which President Barack Obama signed into law on July 21, 2010.
The Act revamped financial industry regulation by consolidating regulatory agencies, requiring greater transparency from lending institutions and setting uniform standards for investment products.
The law was most controversial with Republicans, who said it exerts too much government control over the free enterprise that has allowed the financial industry to prosper.
Their antagonism over the Obama administration’s regulatory reforms was obvious during the hearing Thursday.
The hearing was called by Darrell Issa (R-CA), chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.
“The American people have a right to know how the bureau will advance and enforce its regulatory assignment,” Issa said.
Elijah E. Cummings (D-MD) suggested the committee subpoena mortgage companies accused of predatory lending instead of questioning Warren. The suggestion prompted heated exchanges.
While John F. Tierney (D-MA) tried to make a point about proper procedures for the hearing, he turned to Issa and said, “What part of the English language don’t you understand?”
Issa called a five-minute break to settle disputes before Warren testified.
Even as Warren was being sworn in, Stephen F. Lynch (D-MA) tried to get Issa’s attention but the committee chairman ignored him.
Mild antagonism continued during the questioning of Warren when Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) asked for proof the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau would be ready to begin operating effectively by next week.
“We’re looking for the transparency in how you’re going to do it,” Chaffetz said.
He seemed unsatisfied with Warren’s response that the relevant information was posted on the agency’s Web site at usaspending.gov.
“No one’s hiding anything,” she said.
Chaffetz also asked how the agency would measure its progress in protecting consumers.
“We’re in the process of developing our performance metrics,” Warren said.
Chaffetz said, “You’re telling me this is going to be ready by next week?”
Republicans expressed concern the agency would ban some investment products, such as payday loans or put caps on interest rates.
They also asked whether the agency would extend its regulatory authority to auto loans and insurance policies.
Warren said, “We don’t have any present plans” to ban financial products.
She also said the agency would have “limited” power to control financial institutions and their services.
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