Palm Beach, Florida (AP) – President Donald Trump dismissed the director of the consumer financial protection office, Rohit Chopra, in the last purge of an administrative Holdover of Biden.
Chopra was one of the most important regulators of the previous democratic administration that was still in office since Trump took office on January 20. that the financial system could be fairer and more competitive in a way that helped consumers. But many in the financial industry have considered its actions as a regulatory surpassing.
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In an article on social networks on Saturday about her departure, Chopra thanked people through the country that “shared their ideas and experiences” with the government’s financial surveillance agency.
“You helped us keep powerful companies and their leaders responsible for violating the law, and you have improved our work,” published Chopra above x above photos of his letter announcing that he would no longer direct the office.
During Trump’s first term, the Republican had chosen Chopra as a democratic member of the Federal Trade Commission.
In her letter, Chopra noted that the office was ready to work with the Trump administration. He said the agency had prepared rules to block Russia, China and others to use data brokers to monitor Americans, and have issued policies to prevent people from losing access to services banking to exercise their constitutional right to express their political or religious opinions.
The letter noted that the CFPB also analyzed Trump’s campaign proposal to cap the interest rates of the credit card.
Chopra was informed of her dismissal in an email, according to a person familiar with the opinion which was not authorized to discuss the question publicly and spoke under the cover of anonymity.
Under the law, Chopra was to serve a five -year term, which meant that he could have stayed as director of the CFPB. But he had publicly declared that he would leave his post if the new president asked.
In many ways, Chopra illustrated some of the tensions between Trump’s promises to limit regulations for businesses and its populist calls to voters. When the Associated Press reported on January 22 that Chopra had remained in his work after Trump was sworn in, his criticism in the financial sector quickly said that the president was to reject him.
“The longer director remains, the more difficult it will be for this pro-growth administration to undo the order of government politically focused on the government that the appointment of President Biden has hired in recent years in the office,” sent an email In Weston Loyd, press secretary at the Consumer Bankers Association.
Richard Hunt, Executive President of Electronic Payments Coalition, said that Chopra’s mandate “was marked by witch hunters and a political weapon” of the office, arguing that Chopra policies have reduced the access that “consumers vulnerable “had a financial credit.
But many liberal groups have stressed that Chopra’s work has helped make billions of dollars to consumers.
Kitty Richards, former strategic official of the Treasury Department and senior strategic advisor to the Think Tank Trandwork collaborative, said that Chopra had been a “tireless guard dog” which held “responsible predatory companies”.
“Trump has always been more interested in serving his billionaire boys club than providing changes to workers,” said Richards.
Chopra is an ally of senator Elizabeth Warren, one of Trump’s favorite targets which is the same with the idea of the CFPB. The Massachusetts Democrat said in a statement that the office under Chopra had “Wall Street responsible for” having deceived families who work hard and preventing the de-banking of the Americans across the country “.
California representative Maxine Waters, the best democrat of the Chamber’s Financial Services Committee, said in a statement that Chopra’s dismissal “marks the end of a strong consumer protection era and the start of a plan for put an end to this important agency “.
The office was created after the 2008 financial crisis to regulate mortgage loans, car loans and other consumption finances. Republicans and their donors are also long opposed.
Last year, the Supreme Court rejected a contested that could have undermined the office, judging that the way it is funded is funded does not violate the Constitution. Unlike most federal agencies, the office is not based on the annual budget process at the congress, but is funded directly by the Federal Reserve.
