Reversing Course on Consumer Protection Agency

In the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, the Obama administration created the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, or CFPB, to be the watchdog agency to protect consumers from predatory lenders, aggressive debt collectors and bad actors in the financial industry. Since its creation, the agency has reported that it has returned $11.8 billion to nearly 30 million consumers because of its enforcement activity.

But the CFPB now appears to be headed in a very different direction, led by a interim new leader, President Trump's budget director Mick Mulvaney. As a congressman, he once described the consumer protection agency as a "sick, sad" joke. In a few short months, Mulvaney has already made major changes to how the agency operates, such as proposing to reduce its funding and reversing several investigations and enforcement actions.

How will the CFPB continue to operate under the Trump administration? This week on Money Talking, Charlie Herman talks about the issue with Renae Merle, Wall Street reporter for The Washington Post.