Other agency chiefs in the Trump regime have effectively neutered their departments, but acting Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) director Mick Mulvaney may go the extra mile by defunding his agency.
Politico reports that Mulvaney has not requested an operating budget for the next quarter of the year, instead relying on emergency reserves.
In a letter to Fed Chair Janet Yellen obtained by POLITICO, Mulvaney wrote that the bureau has $177 million in the bank, enough to cover the $145 million the bureau has budgeted for its second quarter. Cordray had maintained a “reserve fund” in case of overruns or emergencies, but Mulvaney said he didn’t see any reason for it, since the Fed has always given the bureau the money it needs. Mulvaney, who is also Trump’s budget director, noted that instead of advancing the funds to the bureau, the Fed could return them to the Treasury and reduce the deficit.
“While this approximately $145 million may not make much of a dent in the deficit, the men and women at the Bureau are proud to do their part to be responsible stewards of taxpayer dollars,” Mulvaney wrote.
Sure, this is ridiculous at face value, but it's worse than that.
As Mulvaney himself admits, $145 million won't make "much of a dent" in the deficit, but he's more right than he knows. This actually won't make a dent in the deficit at all.
The Federal Reserve is not the Treasury. Mulvaney is not returning money to the American people. He is not returning "taxpayer dollars." The Federal Reserve is not even funded by Congress. The Federal Reserve is funded by interest payments and currency investments. The Consumer Protection Bureau is funded by the Federal Reserve, not Congress.
Mick Mulvaney is a moron. And he's the White House budget director.