Controversy builds at U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

Controversy builds at U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

Costly building renovations at the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau are raising more congressional concerns that the agency is out of control. A government report pegs the price of the work at $210 million — $120 million more than initial estimates, with off-site leasing costs included.

“That’s more per square foot than the Bellagio hotel-casino in Las Vegas,” said John Berlau, a senior fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute. And, critics add, CFPB doesn’t even own the building.

The Office of Inspector General for the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve Board found:

Approval of funding for the renovation was not in accordance with the CFPB’s current policies for major investment. A sound business case is not available to support the funding of the renovation.

Lawmakers have mocked the project, which includes a glass staircase, concession kiosk, and a “water wall” ending in a splash pool.

CFPB Director Richard Cordray countered: “We don’t own the building, but the notion we are building some kind of palace is ridiculous.” Cordray acknowledged, however, that he did not know the square footage of the office located near the White House. Still, the project lives.

The building battle is an ironic twist for the 4-year-old CFPB, whose website declares, “We want to help consumers make smarter decisions.”

The agency is funded largely by fees banks pay to the Federal Reserve. Cordray said the bureau has levied more than $141 million in fines, which have gone into CFPB education programs or reparation to consumers.

Unimpressed, Republicans in Congress have raised repeated questions about CFPB’s sweeping collection of citizens’ private financial data and allegations of workplace discrimination within the bureau. Said Berlau:

They say they need sensitive mortgage and credit card data to do their job. No other agency has this power — they’re rivaling the National Security Agency.

The Competitive Enterprise Institute is suing the bureau on the grounds that CFPB is unconstitutional. The bureau has responded with the novel claim that it is exempt from depositions.

House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling said the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act, which created the CFPB, made the agency “unaccountable to taxpayers and to Congress.”

“We’re seeing the results of this dangerous unaccountability today in a Washington bureaucracy that is running amok, spending as much as it wants on whatever it wants,” the Texas Republican said.

Hensarling estimated that halting the renovation plans and finding a cheaper office would save the bureau about $100 million. He recommends that the government sell the building to the highest bidder.

Read more by Kenric Ward at Watchdog.com.

Kenric Ward

Kenric Ward

Kenric Ward is a national correspondent and writes for the Texas Bureau of Watchdog.org. Formerly a reporter and editor at two Pulitzer Prize-winning newspapers, Kenric has won dozens of state and national news awards for investigative articles. His most recent book is “Saints in Babylon: Mormons and Las Vegas.”

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