Afterwards, there were fireworks. Mrs. McWilliams’ public relations office at the FDIC issued the following statement on her behalf:
An anonymous statement read: “Earlier today, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) posted on its website a document, purportedly approved by the FDIC, requesting comment on bank mergers.” “The FDIC has not approved any such document.”
Ms. McWilliams and her staff had been working behind the scenes for several weeks to counteract Mr. Chopra and Mr. Gruenberg, according to two people briefed on the matter who were not authorised to speak publicly on the matter. The other board members quickly rejected Ms. McWilliams’ alternative text after she learned of the effort to create a public information request for bank mergers, the people said.
A vote was not counted because of Ms. McWilliams’ claims of procedural violations, the people who worked with her said, when voting began in late November.
It was announced by senior FDIC officials on Thursday that the information request would not be made official. They argued that the two Democrats’ move was invalid because it didn’t follow proper procedure.
Mr. Gruenberg was Unconvinced, However.
For example, he said in an email to journalists on Thursday, “It is clear under statute that a majority of FDIC directors has authority to place items on the agenda for Board meetings and, alternatively, to circulate and act on notational votes, to implement board actions.” “No single Board member can override the majority’s decision.”
“Work collaboratively with other regulators” is what the O.C.C. spokeswoman said about Mr. Hsu’s vote, but she didn’t go into specifics.
In order to move the case forward, Mr. Chopra and Mr. Gruenberg will likely have to sue Ms. McWilliams, two people with knowledge of the situation said.
Biden hasn’t Yet Removed these Three Incompetent Holdovers from Trump’s Administration.
The conservative majority on the Supreme Court this summer delivered a 5-4 ruling against the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which was celebrated as a victory for the right.
It was, in retrospect, a tremendous present to Joe Biden as well. In light of the court’s ruling, Vice President Biden immediately removed Trump’s fraudulent CFPB director.
It also obviously provides him the authority to dismiss Mark Calabria, Andrew Saul, and David Black, the three other Trump holdovers in charge of federal agencies who, if permitted to remain in office, will continue to pursue the former president’s objectives. Curiously, Biden has not yet terminated these people.
If he doesn’t use the weapons the Supreme Court handed him to stop them, these men in the executive branch will destroy his programme. There’s no time to waste, Vice President Biden.
In Seila Law v. CFPB, a conservative majority voted 5-4 to overturn a federal law that prevented the president from firing the CFPB director, the head of a supposedly independent agency, due to political disputes.
Most Independent Agencies, Unlike the CFPB, are Led by a Multimember Board, Giving the President More Say Over their direction.
The Social Security Administration, which oversees the largest federal programme in the country, and the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which oversees the mortgage market, are the only two other regulatory agencies led by a single director who was previously protected from termination by the president.
However, these safeguards for the workplace are no longer legally binding. Chief Justice John Roberts’ dissenting opinion in Seila Law implied that his line of thinking will eventually lead to the elimination of the autonomy of the directors of these organisations.
Roberts called the Social Security Administration’s (SSA) single-director structure “relatively recent and controversial,” pointing out that it was established in 1994 and that President Bill Clinton “questioned [its] constitutionality,” going so far as to invite Congress to issue a “corrective amendment.”
The top justice also looked down on the Federal Housing Finance Agency, saying it was “basically a companion of the CFPB,” adding that the CFPB’s “single-Director structure is a matter of ongoing debate.” He mentioned that the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals had “just found unconstitutional” the agency’s organisational structure.
The firing of Trump’s CFPB director Kathleen Kraninger by Biden on Jan. 20 sets a clear precedent that allows him to fire FHFA director Mark Calabria and SSA commissioner Peter Saul on the same day.
Here we have Calabria, whose current term will conclude in 2024 after being reaffirmed in 2019. His department oversees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the two largest mortgage lenders in the country, and 11 government-sponsored banks.
Conclusion
He has worked at the libertarian Cato Institute and as vice president Mike Pence’s chief economist. Calabria’s primary objective is to have his agency take over management of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac once the government’s conservatorship of the two businesses is lifted.
If he were to privatise them, it would have a profound impact on the housing finance sector, drive up the cost of mortgages, and deprive the government of a huge revenue stream.
In addition to being counterproductive to the agency’s stated goals, the initiative poses a direct danger to the availability of low-cost homes for prospective homeowners.
