The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will fold its division that works on investigating the student-loan industry into a larger unit that focuses on consumer information, according to an internal memo obtained by The New York Times,The Washington Post, and the Associated Press, among other news organizations.
Mark Wilson/Getty Images
Mick Mulvaney, acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, announced in an internal memo on Wednesday that the bureau’s student-loan office would be folded into an office that focuses on consumer information, according to news reports.
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The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will fold its division that works on investigating the student-loan industry into a larger unit that focuses on consumer information, according to an internal memo obtained by The New York Times,The Washington Post, and the Associated Press, among other news organizations.
Mark Wilson/Getty Images
Mick Mulvaney, acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, announced in an internal memo on Wednesday that the bureau’s student-loan office would be folded into an office that focuses on consumer information, according to news reports.
One example of such action: Three days before the inauguration of President Trump, the bureau said it had sued Navient, which is the nation’s largest student-loan servicer, asserting that it had violated several federal laws. (Navient called the claims “unfounded” and politically motivated.) The bureau also sued for-profit colleges, including ITT Educational Services and Corinthian Colleges.
According to the Times, the change was announced by email to the bureau’s career staff. Mick Mulvaney, interim director of the bureau, has been clear about his desire to dial down the bureau’s activity. In announcing a new strategic plan for the bureau in February, Mulvaney said, “If there is one way to summarize the strategic changes occurring at the bureau, it is this: We have committed to fulfill the bureau’s statutory responsibilities, but go no further.” He added that such a focus would “serve as a bulwark against the misuse of our unparalleled powers.”
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In a written statement, Sen. Patty Murray, the top Democrat on the Senate’s education committee, criticized the move. “It’s telling that President Trump’s reaction to millions of borrowers struggling to pay back their student loans and asking for help with unmanageable debt is to shut down the only office focused on serving student-loan borrowers,” she said. “President Trump is giving student-loan corporations the green light to take advantage of students without fear of repercussion and sending a clear message to students that this administration is not interested in their best interests when it gets in the way of corporate profits.”
A spokeswoman for the bureau did not immediately respond to The Chronicle’s request for comment.
