WASHINGTON, D.C. — Is it easier for the U.S. to unleash a
military strike in the Middle East than it is to counter a decision issued by
the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau? The chairman of the U.S. House Financial
Services Committee thinks that scenario just might be true.

During a committee hearing in which the CFPB offered its semiannual
report, Rep. Jeb Hensarling called the agency "arguably the single most
powerful and least accountable Federal agency in the history of America."

Hensarling made the declaration in advance of CFPB director
Richard Cordray giving his latest Capitol Hill testimony on Thursday.

"The CFPB is unaccountable to the executive branch,"
Hensarling said. "The director, once appointed and confirmed, can only be
removed by the president for cause. 
Neither can the nation's chief executive enforce spending discipline on
the bureau because it is not subject to the Office of Management and Budget.
Nor does CFPB have their own inspector general.

"I also find it fascinating, as Syria has dominated our
national consciousness, that it merely takes a majority vote of Congress to
launch military action or to go to war, but it takes a super-majority vote of
the Executive Branch Financial Stability Oversight Council to overturn a ruling
of the CFPB, and then only if that ruling can be shown to threaten the safety
and soundness of the entire U.S. financial system," the Texas Republican
representative went on to say.

Cordray defended the agency's actions, pointing to
intensifying the regulation of debt collection, a supervision program to
include the larger credit reporting companies as well as the bureau's first
enforcement actions.

"The work I have briefly discussed here is merely a snapshot
of our efforts on behalf of consumers," Cordray said.

"Each day, we take another step in pursuit of our vision to
create a consumer financial marketplace where customers can see prices and
risks up front and easily make product comparisons; in which no one can build a
business model around unlawful practices and that works well for individual
consumers, responsible businesses and the economy as a whole. We will continue
to persist in this work, and we appreciate your oversight," he went on to say.

While lenders and dealers continue to strive toward compliance
with mandates issued by the CFPB, at least some consumers appear to be cheering
the agency's work judging by a recent survey.

Results from a survey of 1,004 likely voters conducted in
July by Lake Research Partners on behalf of Americans for Financial Reform and
the Center for Responsible Lending showed that 51 percent had a very or somewhat
favorable opinion of the work completed by the CFPB.

Perhaps also telling, the survey results released this week
mentioned that 40 percent of participants had no opinion or had not heard of
the CFPB at all.

During the committee hearing, Hensarling did not voice
opposition to government oversight of the financial system, but he asked, "Who
will protect consumers from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau?"

The chairman continued, "True consumer protection requires
access to competitive, transparent and innovative markets vigorously policed
for force, fraud and deception. True consumer protection empowers consumers and
respects their economic freedoms to make informed choices free from government
interference and fiat.

"Consumer protection is not a zero-sum game — where for consumers to
win producers must lose, or where borrowers can only win when lenders
lose.  Consumer protection is not, having
powerful government agencies ‘nudge' consumers to make 'correct' choices in the
belief they are incapable of making rational decisions for themselves,"
Hensarling continued.

"When it comes to true consumer protection, and when it
comes to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, this committee will do
everything we can to demand the highest levels of accountability, transparency
and answers," he went on to say.

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