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by Newt Gingrich
November 29, 2017
Since President Donald Trump took office, he has been consistently strategic in working to dismantle the radical, leftwing legacy of his predecessor.
While the mainstream media has fixated on exaggerated day-to-day mini-controversies, the Trump Administration has methodically eliminated job-killing Obama-era regulations, filled judicial vacancies with solid conservatives at an astonishing pace, and accomplished real breakthroughs in trade relations with China and the Middle East.
Now, the President is going after another Obama-era creation: the dangerously unaccountable Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).
My longtime readers know that I have opposed the CFPB on constitutional and economic grounds for years. I’ve written about the agency’s mafia-like tactics as well as the threat its behavior poses to the rule of law. I have even testified before Congress about the danger this agency poses.
This CFPB was created by the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act and was largely designed by radical Senator Elizabeth Warren when she was an Obama advisor. Since the beginning, it has been used as a political weapon by the far Left as a way to intimidate businesses that the Left opposes ideologically.
The CFPB consistently oversteps its bounds. It is prohibited from regulating car deals, yet it does so anyway. It is prohibited from collecting personal data from consumers, yet it does so at a scale that rivals the NSA’s most controversial data gathering operations.
Further, the CFPB draws its funding from the Federal Reserve’s operating expenses rather than annual appropriations – making it unaccountable to Congress. The writers of Dodd-Frank also specified that the director could only be removed by the president – and only under specific circumstances. This undermines both congressional and executive powers. Essentially, the bureau can do whatever it wants – without fear of losing its funding or its leadership.
The bureau’s creators claim it needed this unique autonomy from Congress and the president so it could operate free of politics. However, it appears what the CFPB really wanted was a shield against conservative politics. The Washington Examiner found that political donations from bureau employees have been overwhelmingly Democratic. Since 2011, 593 CFPB employees have donated a total of $114,859 to Democratic candidates or groups, while only one employee has given to a Republican – $1,000 to Mitt Romney in 2012.
In other words, the CFPB is the perfect example of an out-of-control, wholly unaccountable, politically-motivated bureaucracy. It is one of the deepest bogs in the swamp.
The best possible evidence of this agency’s assumed autonomy is illustrated by the ludicrous fight that has unfolded over the past few days.
Former CFPB Director Richard Cordray announced his resignation the day after Thanksgiving, with eight months left in his term. However, before officially departing Friday, he made his chief of staff, Leandra English, the agency’s deputy director, which under Dodd-Frank, would set her up to become acting director in his stead.
However, President Trump exercised his executive power to fill federal vacancies and appointed OMB Director Mick Mulvaney – a fierce critic of the CFPB – as acting director. English is now making an absurd grab for power by suing the Trump Administration. Despite the CFPB’s general counsel acknowledging Mulvaney is the legal acting director, English claims President Trump doesn’t have the authority to appoint him.
English’s grandstanding only proves the contemptuous, bureaucratic arrogance of the culture surrounding this deeply flawed federal agency. The Left simply believes the law does not apply to them.
Not surprisingly, the national media continues to treat English’s ridiculous claim as legitimate – even after U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly on Tuesday denied her request for a restraining order to keep Mulvaney from leading the agency.
In his ruling, Judge Kelly said, “Denying the President’s authority to appoint Mr. Mulvaney raises significant constitutional questions.”
This is another fight that President Trump has won – and it couldn’t have happened quickly enough.
Congress and the President should now work to abolish the CFPB as soon as possible, or at the very least, bring this rogue agency back under the rule of law.
— President Trump is Decisively Reining in the Left originally appeared at Fox News and Gingrich Productions.
Rod is one of our nation’s leading minds. He’s smart, original, and very committed—a combination that one rarely finds.
Rod Martin and [former Howard Dean campaign manager] Joe Trippi are America’s two foremost experts on online politics.
Rod Martin is a Reaganite-Thatcherite conservative…[and] a man who has spent much of his life ministering to and working for the benefit of others. I know Rod as an advocate for freedom, a leader who understands the real changes we need in Washington, and who has the drive and ability to make those changes happen.
Rod Martin is the kind of dynamic leader who has the knowledge, ability and experience to lead us successfully into the 21st Century. His vision for America is compelling.
Rod Martin literally wrote the book on excellence. Humble yet brilliant, a man of love and compassion, with penetrating clarity he illuminates the world around us, and we are both stirred and enlightened.
Rod Martin is a born leader and an outstanding political mind. Anyone who takes him on is going to have a serious fight on their hands.
Rod Martin is a man of uncommon vision and character. Ever since I first worked alongside Rod in the early days of PayPal, I’ve been struck by his powerful vision for the future. Rod understands the intersection of technology, politics and culture in a way that few others do.
Rod Martin wears with uncommon grace an uncanny ability to link his vigorous faith to the practical challenges of both the business world and the political arena. Yet the respect he shows for others carries a warmth and modesty that are both too rare among those who are strong advocates of feisty positions.
America badly needs more leaders who really get the future. We need more Rod Martins.
Rod Martin is a modern day philosopher-statesman. He is a capitalist intellectual, a conservative iconoclast, a gentle adversary and a kind prophet. He inspires us towards a fresh national vision built upon the original founding principles.
Rod Martin is not only effective and efficient, but he is also perceptive, wise and gracious. He gets things done. He is a great friend and a great ally.
Rod is one of the sharpest, most gracious men I know, and one of the most gifted political thinkers today. His ability to analyze issues and communicate thoughtful insights on them have earned him the respect of people across the political spectrum.
I am proud to have been Rod Martin’s friend for a quarter century, and I can tell you that he is one of the finest men and most outstanding leaders in our church and in our country today. He has a knack for turning everything he touches to success.
Rod Martin is a cornucopian entrepreneur and eutropic thinker whose influence radiates through an array of companies, institutions, movements and churches. A renaissance American, he is also a prolific friend of freedom and faith around the globe.
If Rod Martin represents the next generation of leaders, America has nothing to worry about.
A leader and a servant, in public life and in private, Rod Martin strides at the top of his profession, and has nowhere to go but up. He is in the truest sense of the word ‘outstanding’.
Rod Martin is undoubtedly one of the most accomplished thought leaders today. He is a wonderful mentor, a humble role model, and a deep inspiration for the next generation of scientific innovators and entrepreneurs.
Rod’s achievements pale beside his character and his brilliance. He sees what others can’t. He leads when others won’t.
Rod Martin is one of America’s finest young minds.
