The tone was set at the start of the proceedings, which were ordered by Rep. Andy Barr (R-Ky.) in place of Speaker Rep. Patrick McHenry (RN.C.).
“First, your agency identifies a consumer harm in one instance for a specific product,” Barr said. “From there, you infer that there is harm everywhere and everyone should be under suspicion. In fact, every act is considered defamatory until the CFPB or a court decides that they are not. You use compliance bulletins, circulars and advisory opinions to create doubt and confusion in the market.
Barr said that Chopra and the CFPB “denigrate entire industries simply because they are politically inappropriate in your opinion.”
“The practice of ‘name and shame first, verify later’ is not consumer protection, it is McCarthyism,” Barr said.
As the hearing progressed, the allegations became more explicit, with Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-Mo.) saying it was concerning that Chopra does not engage more heavily with the industries the CFPB oversees, And Chopra and the CFPB engage in “law by law.” regulation.
“Director, you have clearly chosen to use press releases to guide and regulate the threat of enforcement action rather than create a rule governed by the Administrative Procedure Act,” Luetkemeyer said.
“It’s very important to me, because you go around and you threaten different entities all the time. You have become the biggest extortionist [the] history of this country,” Luetkemeyer added later.
Democratic lawmakers in the minority on the committee aimed to come to the defense of the CFPB and Chopra, asking less pointed questions and offering options for Chopra to address the allegations on the record.
At one point during the hearing, Rep. Juan Vargas (D-Calif.) offered Chopra a chance to respond to Rep. Luetkemeyer’s “extortion” statement.
“Obviously, it’s offensive,” Chopra said. “But I just want to say that we and our employees try to fulfill our public service obligations honestly and to the best of our ability, as we swear by our constitution and our country.”
Other contentious issues addressed by Republican lawmakers included the CFPB’s recent campaign against “junk fees” charged by banks and other lenders and the final small business loan rules announced by the CFPB in late March.
A resolution previously introduced by House lawmakers to block the CFPB small business lending rule was also discussed.
