[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 171 (Thursday, September 30, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6817-S6819]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                       Nomination of Rohit Chopra

  Mr. TOOMEY. Madam President, I rise to oppose the nomination of FTC 
Commissioner Rohit Chopra to be the CFPB Director.
  In the Banking Committee, every Republican voted against him, and on 
the Senate floor, Republicans have uniformly voted against discharging 
his nomination from the committee. There is a reason for that. I think 
my colleagues have the same grave concern that I have that Commissioner 
Chopra would return the CFPB to the lawless, overreaching, highly 
politicized Agency that it was during the Obama administration when he 
was there.
  CFPB, as you will recall, was created by our Democratic colleagues 
through the Dodd-Frank Act, and it was arguably the most unaccountable 
Agency in the history of the U.S. Federal Government. Think about it. 
It is an Agency with a single Director who, until recently, even the 
President of the United States was unconstitutionally forbidden from 
firing.
  This Agency is not accountable to Congress through the appropriations 
process the way most Agencies are. Most rely on appropriations from 
Congress for their funding. That is part of our power of the purse 
strings. Not with the CFPB. It simply draws virtually unlimited funding 
at its discretion from the Federal Reserve, whether Congress likes it 
or not.
  Now, during the Obama administration, the CFPB systematically pursued 
an activist, anti-business agenda. It limited consumer choice, it drove 
up the cost of credit for consumers, and it certainly unfairly burdened 
employers with overregulation.
  CFPB repeatedly engaged in overreach and abuse of its authority. Just 
one example: Instead of clearly laying out the rules of the road 
through a transparent regulatory process, it would invent rules on its 
own by springing lawsuits on the financial institutions that had no way 
of knowing that they were engaged in anything that the CFPB objected to 
because there was no rule. It was just rulemaking by enforcement. The 
DC Circuit Court of Appeals, quite rightly, held that this approach 
violates the fundamental bedrock principle of due process.
  But that is not all. Commissioner Chopra helped set up the CFPB, and 
then he served as a very high-ranking official there during the Obama 
administration. In that role, it has been widely acknowledged that he 
had a hostile relationship with lenders. He used ``name and shame'' 
tactics to pressure them. In one case, he took the ``shoot first; aim 
second'' approach to the facts by posting online inaccurate allegations 
about credit unions, which the CFPB then later had to retract.
  At the FTC, Commissioner Chopra has continued his aggressive anti-
business stances, and he has continued to take a ``shoot first; aim 
later'' approach to the facts in order to advance his agenda. In one 
recent case, three of his fellow Commissioners publicly rebuked 
Commissioner Chopra for ``his disregard of the facts and the law, for 
making misleading claims, and for relying on false assertions.''
  During this whole nomination process, while Commissioner Chopra is 
under consideration to lead the CFPB, he has done very little to 
alleviate these concerns.
  I asked him a request for the record. Given its history, given the 
actions that have been overturned by courts, was there a single CFPB 
enforcement action that Mr. Chopra believed was too burdensome or was 
too punitive? He couldn't identify a single one.
  In addition, Commissioner Chopra favors unaccountable regulators with 
vast powers. He actually in writing proposed this superagency that 
would regulate politicians and think tanks and nonprofits. At his 
nomination hearing, Commissioner Chopra once again defended the CFPB's 
completely unaccountable structure.
  All this raises concerns about how he would wield power at the CFPB. 
Remember, at the CFPB, he would not be accountable to Congress in any 
meaningful way, certainly not through the appropriations process, and 
since the CFPB is a single Director Agency, there would be no other 
Commissioners to restrain him.
  Commissioner Chopra has also shown a complete disregard already for 
congressional oversight. According to multiple press reports, the Biden 
administration's political leadership at the CFPB has been taking 
unusual and possibly unlawful actions to push out top-level career, 
nonpolitical civil servants at the CFPB in order to fill those civil 
service positions with handpicked activists who will support the Biden 
agenda. Now, the implication has been that this was done in preparation 
for Commissioner Chopra taking over as the Director.
  These were just allegations, but there were several of them. There 
was some credibility to them. So I sent Commissioner Chopra a letter 
simply asking in a straightforward way whether he was aware of or 
whether he had been involved in any efforts to dismiss these career 
civil servants at the CFPB. It has been over 100 days since I asked him 
these simple, straightforward questions, and he has refused to provide 
any response to me.
  His refusal to respond to my oversight requests--I am the ranking 
member of the committee that has jurisdiction over the organization he 
is meant to lead. This refusal to respond to a simple oversight request 
is completely unacceptable from a nominee, and it leaves very little 
doubt how he will treat congressional oversight if he is confirmed.
  As all of the Republicans on the Banking Committee have stated, ``In 
our view, this should disqualify [him] from consideration as CFPB 
Director.''
  It is clear to me that Commissioner Chopra would very likely return 
the CFPB to the rogue, unaccountable, anti-business Agency it was 
during the Obama administration. We have every reason to believe he 
would continue to disregard legitimate congressional oversight 
requests.
  I urge my colleagues to join me in voting against his confirmation.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Ohio.
  Mr. BROWN. Madam President, I come to the floor for the opposite 
reason. I am thrilled to rise to urge my

[[Page S6818]]

colleagues to support Rohit Chopra to serve as the next Director of the 
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
  I have seen the good work they used to do. They used to have an Ohio 
Director. The first Director there was Richard Cordray, a friend of 
mine, somebody who stood up for consumers pretty much every day of his 
work life.
  Rohit Chopra will become the CFPB Director at a time when far too 
many Americans feel that the system is rigged against them. You hear 
reports about billionaires not paying taxes. You hear these reports 
about record profits on Wall Street. You see the influence. Just check 
down the hall. Look down the hall. You can see the influence in the 
minority leader's office, Senator McConnell. Lobbyists are going in and 
out, always getting their way. When a Republican freight train goes 
down the railbed full of tax cuts, you know it never stops. It is 
always about helping those in charge get wealthier.
  As the CFPB Director, Rohit Chopra will be here when people feel like 
no matter how hard they work, they don't get a fair shot in this 
country. His job will be on the side of the public. His job will be on 
the side of the workers.
  I know the Presiding Officer sees this job as I do--as putting 
workers at the center of our country, at the center of our economy, at 
the center of our work here. The Senator from Georgia sees the country 
in the same way: putting workers at the center of our agenda. That has 
not happened until we had this new President. Now, with Rohit Chopra, 
we have the chance to turn this around.

  The public has watched the largest corporations amass enormous power 
and use it to gain access and influence in this town to write the rules 
in their favor. Again, I won't open the door to show you again, but if 
you look down that hall, you will see the people going in and out of 
the Republican leader's office. They are always gaining access, always 
gaining influence, always writing the rules in their favor.
  So it is not surprising that most people don't believe there is 
anyone on their side, fighting for them in the Federal Government, but 
we know that is not true. That is why I know Rohit Chopra will prove 
them wrong, and he will fight for all of those who feel like they have 
been left on their own.
  Even before the pandemic, hard work wasn't paying off. We all know 
that productivity has gone up in this country in the last many years; 
we know executive compensation has skyrocketed; and we know the stock 
market has gone up. But do you know what we also know and what people 
feel every day? They feel like their wages have been stagnant. They 
feel like they are working harder and harder in Savannah or in 
Columbus, GA, or in Cincinnati or Columbus, OH. They know they are 
working harder and harder every day, and they are simply not getting 
ahead. They feel that they have been left on their own.
  Productivity is up, and wages have stagnated. Meanwhile, we know the 
cost of housing, the cost of childcare, the cost of higher ed, the cost 
of prescription drugs--they all go up--and 40 percent of Americans 
aren't able to come up with $400 in an emergency. Before the pandemic, 
one-quarter of renters paid more than half their income in rent. You 
know what happens there. If you are paying half your income in rent and 
your car breaks down or your daughter gets sick or you miss a couple 
days of work from a workplace injury, your life changes. It goes upside 
down, and you can get evicted.
  Then the coronavirus hit, and millions of workers who were one 
emergency away from draining their savings turned to a payday lender as 
they faced emergencies all at once. Millions of homeowners now have 
fallen behind in their mortgages and are at risk of foreclosure--one in 
six Latino homeowners, one in five African-American homeowners.
  Through it all, we have seen COVID-related scams emerge--scams that 
use a global pandemic as a means to cheat their fellow Americans. I 
mean, there is always somebody out there. Most of us aren't that way. 
Most of us in the Senate and most of us in this country aren't that 
way, but there is always somebody out there who will scam their fellow 
Americans. As a result, half a million Americans--that is a lot of 
people--reached out to the CFPB last year, seeking help. That is 54 
percent more than in 2019. Record numbers of consumers complained about 
errors in their credit reports or harassment by debt collectors. Those 
Americans need someone willing to stand up to the biggest banks and to 
stand up to the most powerful corporations and fight for them.
  Rohit Chopra has the expertise and the track record to do that, and 
he will be America's voice and America's advocate. He has a deep 
understanding of financial markets, a strong record of protecting 
consumers and workers and small businesses, promoting competitive 
markets, and holding bad actors accountable.
  In 2018, this body, this Senate, voted unanimously--unanimously--that 
is all of us--to confirm Rohit Chopra as an FTC Commissioner. They 
voted unanimously. In the Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs 
Committee--it used to be just called the Banking Committee because it 
was all about Wall Street; now the word ``Housing'' is in capital 
letters in that committee. In that committee a few weeks ago, all 12 
Republicans voted against Rohit Chopra. Everybody here voted to confirm 
him when he was to go to the FTC. I don't know if any Republicans in 
this body are going to vote for him now. It is really kind of shocking 
as he has worked with Members of both parties on a wide array of issues 
that are important to American consumers.
  As Commissioner, he worked with Democratic and Republican State 
attorneys general to protect American small businesses and consumers 
from foreign goods that were flooding the market with fake ``Made in 
the USA'' labels.
  I worked on this issue a lot. My colleague Senator Portman from 
Ohio--he and I worked together to strengthen, in the bipartisan 
infrastructure bill, the ``Buy American'' provisions--stronger than 
they have ever been--so that we won't see a project like the Bay Bridge 
in California, Northern California, made entirely with steel produced 
by Chinese companies--all part of the Chinese Communist Party. We are 
not going to see that again. We are going to see what ``Made in the 
USA'' means.
  Mr. Chopra's job, in part--something that his predecessor didn't do--
will enforce ``Made in the USA.'' If a company puts ``Made in the USA'' 
on a label, they should hear from the government. You just can't commit 
that kind of fraud. In my State, Ohioans look for ``Made in the USA'' 
because they want their dollars to support our economy. They know it 
also means a quality product, and it means made by American workers.
  He has led the FTC's recent crackdown on Big Tech. Americans across 
the political spectrum were concerned about these huge tech 
corporations that seemed to get bigger and bigger and to control more 
and more of their lives.
  Mr. Chopra authorized the Agency's current lawsuit against Facebook. 
This is what he did in the last job he was in when he got unanimous 
support in this body for confirmation.
  He stood up for Amazon drivers when the company stole more than $60 
million. Imagine Amazon, as maybe the most successful corporation--
certainly, one of the largest corporations in the world--stole $60 
million of tips of workers making $9, $10, $11, $12 an hour, and they 
are not getting away with it. I mean, maybe they got away with it 
before, but they didn't get away with it because Rohit Chopra was 
there.
  Banks aren't going to get away with that kind of stuff. Payday 
lenders won't get away with that kind of stuff. All kinds of people who 
try to defraud American consumers--they are not going to get away with 
this because Rohit Chopra is going to be the cop on the beat.
  During his prior time, when he worked with Richard Cordray at the 
CFPB, he served as the Agency's first student loan ombudsman. He looked 
out for students in the $1.7 trillion student loan market--$1.7 
trillion. That is 1.7 thousand billion, this $1.7 trillion student loan 
market. He worked with State attorneys general of both parties to bring 
enforcement actions against scammers who preyed on students who were 
drowning in student loan debt.
  I see the pages on both sides, sitting here on the steps. Many of 
them are going to school in the next couple of years or are going to 
college. Many of them will take student loans. Many of

[[Page S6819]]

them may be preyed on by some of these scammers. I am guessing every 
one of these pages here, whether they are Republicans or Democrats, 
whether sponsored by Chuck Schumer or Mitch McConnell or me or Rob 
Portman--I am guessing every one of you would vote for the confirmation 
if you could vote. Sorry. You are not even old enough to vote yet, but 
if you could, you would vote for Rohit Chopra because he is going to 
protect you. He is going to protect you when people try to scam you and 
your student loans.

  His commitment to protecting servicemembers has been particularly 
important. He uncovered a predatory lending scheme. He was able to 
return more than $60 million to them and their families. Think about 
that. People are trying to scam our servicemembers. The wife is away, 
serving our country, and the husband is home and they try to scam the 
husband, the husband who worries about his wife every day overseas--
these predatory lenders and others. That is why you need Rohit Chopra 
there to protect them.
  He has earned the endorsement of a bipartisan group of State 
attorneys general. He is supported by a broad coalition of 150 consumer 
groups, civil rights groups, labor groups, public interest groups, and 
small business organizations. They know, like I do, that, with Mr. 
Chopra leading the CFPB, Americans can be confident they will have 
someone looking out for them. Corporations, big banks, payday lenders--
they all have high-priced lobbyists. You see them going in and out of 
Senator McConnell's office. We know that. They have an outsized voice 
in this town. Most people don't have lobbyists.
  I just introduced a bill to help those on SSI. They are the lowest 
income people, averaging $500 a month in income. They didn't have a 
voice. They hadn't been heard from in 20 years until Congress did it. 
It is the same with people that Rohit Chopra will be paid to protect: 
They don't have lobbyists. They don't have a PAC. They certainly don't 
have a super PAC. They are not able to unleash tens of millions of 
dollars of dark money to win elections. They don't have an expensive 
lawyer they can get on the phone with a bank or a credit card company 
if something goes wrong.
  That is why we created the CFPB--to fight for them, to be a voice for 
ordinary people--and, soon, Americans will have Rohit Chopra on their 
side.
  If you were scammed by a payday lender, if you were overcharged by a 
bank, if you took an unfair hit on your credit report, it doesn't 
matter whom you voted for or what State. It doesn't matter who your 
Senate sponsor is. If you are a page, it doesn't matter whom you voted 
for. It doesn't matter what State you live in. You need help. You want 
someone on your side, and Rohit Chopra will be on your side. He will 
stand up. He will be your advocate.
  That is why, as chair of the Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs 
Committee, I enthusiastically support Mr. Chopra's nomination to serve 
as the next Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. I 
urge all of my colleagues to support him.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Warnock). The Senator from Ohio.
  Mr. BROWN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that all remaining 
postcloture time be considered expired.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  Without objection, it is so ordered.