It’s important to keep a steady spotlight on the MAGA majority’s corporations-first agenda, because they’re already testing the waters to see how far they can go to appease their financial industry mega donors on the backs of consumers in House Financial Services. Reps. Patrick McHenry and Blaine Luetkemeyer are point men for the MAGA majority plan to let big banks, Wall Street lobbyists, and predatory lenders write their own rules and evade accountability when they mistreat consumers.
At the top of their wish list is defunding, defanging, and doing away with the consumer protection agency that has recouped billions of ill-gotten dollars on behalf of wronged Americans. Chairman McHenry’s full-throated defense of exploitive industry junk fees that sap billions from the pockets of everyday Americans says it all about the MAGA House’s priorities – and consumers are not among them. Only politicians deep in the pocket of the financial industry could consider indefensible practices like excessive overdraft penalties and predatory hidden fees as a legitimate part of doing business – while they view with contempt the CFPB’s incredible success in saving consumers money and holding financial scammers accountable.
– Liz Zelnick, Accountable.US Director of Economic Security and Corporate Power
¶ What are MAGA Economics?
MAGA Economics is a new series of online profiles of key Republicans in Congress, starting with the House Financial Services Committee (HFSC). TMP will highlight their anti-consumer, MAGA agenda—including pushback against the Biden Administration’s crackdown on junk fees, and an expected bill to replace the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) successful independent funding structure with one beholden to the political whims of Congress. This action follows Chairman Patrick McHenry’s decision in January 2023 to scrap the Diversity and Inclusion Subcommittee and any references to “consumer protection,” “investor protection,” or “community development” in subcommittee titles.
¶ Holding MAGA Republicans Accountable
MAGA Economics will serve as a regularly updated public resource for media, advocacy groups, and concerned consumers to get better insight into why MAGA Republicans are putting industry special interests before American consumers and the economy. TMP will first detail how these HFSC Members carry out the bidding of financial industries—including predatory lenders, greedy landlords, and big banks at the expense of consumers, after taking substantial amounts of money from industry sectors they are supposed to oversee.
¶ The Profiles
- Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC)
- Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC)
- Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-MO)
- Rep. Andy Barr (R-KY)