Warren's Crowning Achievement Steals from Taxpayers

The recent nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court spells trouble for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). In an opinion written in 2016, Kavanaugh expressed a desire to abolish the group, calling it a threat to individual liberty. The bureau, whose single-director structure was ruled unconstitutional by a federal district judge last month, has continued to face scrutiny for its lack of oversight and accountability, particularly it’s isolation from presidential interference. While the organization will continue to operate pending further investigation, the organization’s history reflects an already tarnished reputation. Since it’s creation in 2010, the CFPB has done little in the way of consumer protection, and instead has served only as another government-funded blight on the taxpayer.

The CFPB was created and designed primarily by Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts. When the CFPB was first introduced, it was presented as a way to crack down on predatory lending and to act as a watchdog organization on behalf of consumers. However, it has served only to harm the very workers and consumers it was meant to protect. When Warren was engineering CFPB, she chose to place the agency inside the Federal Reserve Board. While seemingly innocuous, this was done deliberately to ensure that CFPB worker salaries would not have to conform to the pay scale set for other federal workers. As a result, hundreds of CFPB bureaucrats earn a higher salary than Congressional members, Supreme Court judges, and even Vice President Mike Pence. This exorbitant and flagrant disregard for tax dollars is far from aligned with the organization’s original premise. David Williams, president of the Taxpayer Protection Alliance, told TheDCNF, “It’s ironic that the agency that is supposed to be looking out for the ‘little guy’ is actually padding the pockets of their own employees with exorbitant salaries.” By taking these actions, Warren demonstrated not only a cavalier disregard for respecting donor intent, but also a brash and shameless favoritism for those working in her organization.

In addition to evading salary regulations, Warren also ensured that the building itself was a lavish homage to government power. Renovations to the CFPB headquarters cost a staggering $124 million, including $88 million spent on bike racks, desks made of quartz, sunken gardens, outdoor patios, and gender segregated fitness centers. The project earned itself a spot as one of the most expensive renovation projects in DC history, and the building is now rated among the top 10 most expensive buildings in the city. By spearheading this lavish endeavor, Warren showcased a glimpse of her ideal government: a lavish capitol filled with overpaid bureaucrats enjoying luxurious amenities funded by the average American worker. While this Hunger Games-esque picture is a far cry from the image Warren works to exude on the campaign trail, her history of misusing taxpayer dollars continues to grow, in this case to the tune of $416 per square foot.

Despite its lack of adherence to federal regulations, its unconstitutional structure, and its inability to stay within its budget, the CFPB has faced no consequences. There has been seemingly no accountability whatsoever for the CFPB to fulfill its set mission and has instead continued to expand enormously without producing profitable, or even measurable, results. A main function of CFPB is to watch over Wall Street organizations and monitor their activity, but the CFPB’s creation has helped Wall Street crush it’s competition. The Dodd-Frank Act, which created CFPB, imposed regulatory costs too high for small banks to manage, tipping the scale in favor of Wall Street conglomerates. The CFPB also continued to grow even when Wall Street was forced to lay off dozens, which raised questions around the organization’s true purpose, and led taxpayers to wonder what exactly their tax dollars were funding.

Any attempt to expose the organization and increase transparency and accountability has been met with resistance by Warren. She fought against an appropriations bills provision that would subject the CFPB’s funding subject to Congressional approval and limit its budget, and also resisted Republican efforts to install a 5-member commission to replace the organization’s single director. Despite its unconstitutionality, Warren argued in favor of the single-director structure, making it more difficult for the Financial Stability Oversight Council to override any CFPB decisions.

At every turn, Elizabeth Warren has implemented changes that benefit big government and harm the American taxpayer. It seems that she values government for government’s sake, and does not even put particular stock in the employees whose salaries she has so overinflated. An investigation of the CFPB found the organization to be “…one of exclusion, retaliation, discrimination, nepotism, demoralization, devaluation, and a toxic workplace”. These conditions were exposed when Angela Martin, a CFPB employee, was punished for trying to report gender discrimination to her supervisor. Despite Warren’s image as an advocate for women’s rights in the workplace, Warren had no comment when it came to gender discrimination within her own organization. While she loves to point to the CFPB as proof of her dedication to protecting American consumers, it seems that this is yet another deceptive ploy by a Senator desperate to promote only her own interests. Hopefully Kavanaugh’s confirmation will put both Warren and the CFPB in their place.