John L. Culhane, Jr.

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Democrats on the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee are accusing Acting CFPB Director Russell Vought of trying to shut down the CFPB by starving it of funding.

“You have…let the fiscal year pass without having requested any funding for the CFPB to perform its work, an unprecedented approach that threatens to leave the agency unable to fulfill its many statutory obligations on behalf of consumers across the country,” the Democrats, led by ranking Democratic Sen.… Continue Reading

The CFPB has issued an interpretive rule that says the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) preempts states from regulating broad areas of credit reporting.  

“Congress meant to occupy the field of consumer reporting and displace [state] laws within that field,” the bureau said, in the rule that went into effect on October 28.… Continue Reading

The NCUA has issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to codify the elimination of reputational risk from its supervisory program, becoming the latest federal financial regulator to do so.

“NCUA has determined that assessing reputation risk is subjective, ambiguous, and lacking in measurable criteria,” the agency said, in announcing the action.… Continue Reading

Contending that it cannot abolish the CFPB on its own, the Trump Administration said that the union arguing that such a plan exists should not be entitled to an en banc hearing before an appeals court.

“Although factual disputes exist surrounding those actions, all the parties and both the majority and dissenting opinions agree that the Executive Branch lacks power to unilaterally abolish [the] CFPB based on policy disagreements with Congress’s choices,” the Justice Department said, in response to the request for an en banc hearing filed by the National Treasury Employees Union in the U.S.… Continue Reading

A federal appeals court has rejected the Trump Administration’s request to delay its response to an en banc hearing request in the lawsuit challenging the mass firings at the CFPB due to the government shutdown.

The National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU), which is challenging the firings, had not opposed the Administration’s request.… Continue Reading

Financial institutions may continue to make loans that would otherwise be subject to federal flood insurance statutes even though the authorization for the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) has lapsed, federal financial regulators reassured lenders.

During a NFIP lapse, lenders are permitted to make these loans without requiring federal flood insurance, the Farm Credit Administration, FDIC, Federal Reserve Board, OCC and NCUA said, in joint guidance to financial institutions.… Continue Reading

NCUA Chairman Kyle S. Hauptman said that through the issuance of a policy statement he is reenforcing an agency policy to prohibit officials from setting new policy through enforcement actions.

Hauptman said that the policy statement fulfills a goal he listed in January, after being appointed Chairman: “Codifying our procedures to protect Americans from regulation-by-enforcement.… Continue Reading

Saying that the federal government shutdown makes it impossible for them to work on the case, Justice Department attorneys are asking a federal appeals court to delay its response to a request for an en banc hearing in the lawsuit challenging mass firings at the CFPB.

“At the end of the day on September 30, 2025, the appropriations act that had been funding the Department of Justice expired and appropriations to the Department lapsed,” the attorneys told the U.S.… Continue Reading

As the government shutdown drags on, some financial services programs—particularly housing programs– are being affected.

The CFPB is funded through the Federal Reserve system, not through annual appropriations, and technically is still operating, although as we have reported previously many CFPB employees are not being permitted to work. (That CFPB funding mechanism was the subject of a Supreme Court case and the court found the funding system constitutional.)… Continue Reading