Chamber takes aim at agency director
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is taking aim at Rohit Chopra, director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, in a public campaign, accusing him of trying to “radically reshape” the financial services industry.
As part of the campaign, which began Tuesday, the trade group shelled out six figures for advertisements seeking to “rein in” an “outof-control” Chopra, the DealBook newsletter reports.
The group also filed six requests for records of communications between Chopra’s agency and the White House, and it sent two letters to the consumer bureau detailing what it called “imprudent and unlawful actions.” (One letter lays out the group’s objection to the agency’s policy tweak on examining financial institutions for discriminatory practices.)
A spokesperson for the consumer agency brushed aside the chamber’s accusations.
“Scare tactics orchestrated by lobbyists for Big Tech and Wall Street won’t deter the work of the bureau to enforce the law,” she said. “Less than a year in, our approach is already paying dividends, with significant changes in bank overdraft policies and major reforms in the reporting of medical debt to consumer credit reports.”
The trade group’s move reflects growing fears in some Washington circles that Chopra has amassed too much influence since taking up the post in October. The chamber’s chief policy officer, Neil Bradley, said in an email that Chopra’s efforts would “upend the financial service system” and that the group was hoping for “congressional oversight.”
The right has accused Chopra of unfair maneuvering, and the left has hailed him as a hero of the people.
During a hearing in April, Sen. Patrick Toomey of Pennsylvania, the top Republican on the Senate Banking Committee, said the consumer agency had abused its power under Chopra. Toomey repeated the assertion in response to a request for comment on the trade association’s new campaign, saying in a statement, “He has returned the CFPB to the rogue, regulation-by-enforcement agency it was during the Obama administration.”
Separately, the American Economic Liberties Project, a progressive competition policy group, said in a statement Tuesday that Chopra was “a clear-eyed fighter for workers, small businesses and local communities,” and that corporate lobbyists were trying to discredit him with “a targeted smear campaign.”
Chopra was once warmly welcomed by Republicans. In 2018, senators unanimously confirmed him after President Donald Trump nominated him to the Federal Trade Commission.
But at the FTC, Chopra’s tactics and approaches quickly drew ire from the right, and by last year, when he was President Joe Biden’s pick for bureau director, 48 Republicans opposed him and two did not vote.