Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee, blasted Mr. Hensarling’s plan on Thursday
and accused Republicans of plotting to turn an effective consumer watchdog into a “toy poodle.”
“It took less than three weeks for House Republicans to show their hand on how they will renege on candidate Trump’s campaign promises to hold Wall Street accountable
and help working Americans,” Mr. Brown said after reviewing the memo.
Representative Mick Mulvaney, Republican of South Carolina, who is waiting to be confirmed
as the White House’s budget director, has referred to the bureau as a “sad, sick joke.”
And Sean Spicer, White House spokesman, said Mr. Trump had not yet decided if he would try
to oust the bureau’s director, Richard Cordray, before Mr. Cordray’s term ends in 2018.
WASHINGTON — The chairman of the House Financial Services Committee will move forward on legislation to neuter the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and its power to crack down on predatory business practices, according to a leaked memo
that emerged on Thursday and infuriated Democratic defenders of the bureau.
Steven Mnuchin, Mr. Trump’s nominee to head the Treasury Department, said during his confirmation hearing
that the consumer protection bureau, created by Dodd-Frank, should cease to be funded by the Federal Reserve and should instead be funded through Congress, a move that could curb its independence.
The memo, drafted by the chairman, Representative Jeb Hensarling, a Republican from Texas
and a longtime foe of the consumer agency, aligns House Republicans with President Trump in the latest attack on President Barack Obama’s legacy.