Rep. Jody Hice [R-Ga.], the ranking member on the House Oversight Committee’s Subcommittee on Government Operations is calling for an investigation into reports that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is reportedly attempting to replace senior officials at the regulator with those who share the current administration’s views on enforcement and supervision. Rep. Hice’s call for an investigation joins that of Sen. Pat Toomey [R-Penn.], the ranking member of the Senate Banking Committee, who called for a similar investigation last week.
Rep. Hice sent a letter to the Inspector General of the Federal Reserve Board and CFPB calling for an “immediate investigation” that the Biden administration is “targeting certain career civil servants” at the CFPB.
The Bureau was accused in a published report of offering some employees incentives like early retirement packages to induce them to leave while allegedly investigating the actions of others in the hopes of either finding grounds to fire them or inducing them to leave on their own.
Calling the allegations in the report a “monument to hypocrisy,” Rep. Hice said in his letter that “purging career employees who happened to serve under a previous administration specifically because they served under the previous administration could not be more counter to merit-system protection principles.”
Rep. Hice called on the Inspector General to confirm his intention to investigate the claims by the end of the month.
“The hypocrisy of the Biden Administration is rearing its ugly head,” Rep. Hice said in a statement. “The Consumer Federal Protection Bureau seems to be trying to create a patronage system by reportedly targeting career employees who served under President Trump. It seems they believe any career civil servant who worked under President Trump at CFPB must be replaced with hires selected by Biden Administration officials. The federal government is not a patronage system. It is supposed to be merit based. The inspector general must launch an investigation to stop this abuse.”