Trump’s Budget Chief just requested $0 for Consumer Finance Protection Bureau

Yet another sign has arrived from one of the Trump Administration’s dubious interim appointees and it’s something of a death knell for the agency in question.

Mick Mulvaney, head of the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau has put in a request of $0 in funding for the Obama-era department.

The previous director, Richard Cordray requested $217.1 million last year and  $86.6 million for the prior quarter.

Mulvaney’s “request” signals what some have suspected already: that the Trump administration intends to roll back regulations related to consumer protection.

Mulvaney issued an excuse by way of an explanation.

“Simply put, I have been assured that the funds currently in the bureau fund are sufficient for the bureau to carry out its statutory mandates for the next fiscal quarter while striving to be efficient, effective and accountable,” Mulvaney wrote in a letter to Fed Chairwoman Janet Yellen.

Mulvaney questioned his predecessor’s practice of maintaining a surplus of funding in reserve, wondering whether it was both necessary and legal.

This is just one of many measures taken that indicate an attempt to defang the CFPB. Mulvaney is also leading efforts to reconsider the rules protecting consumers from payday lending traps, and is reviewing the rules pertaining to big banks and predatory lenders.

Taken altogether, Mulvaney’s prior actions and this request for no funding says loud and clear that he and the rest of the Trump administration have no intention of working for the good of the people.