American Bridge spokesperson Andrew Bates released the following statement in reaction to OMB Director Mick Mulvaney doubling down on his belief that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is a “joke” that should not exist:

“If Donald Trump’s power-grab goes through and Mulvaney is allowed to be in charge, middle class Americans and working families are almost certain to lose the protections against abusive practices on the part of banks, credit card companies, payday lenders, and other entities that the CFPB was created to provide.  Trump is undermining the Wall Street reforms passed after the 2008 financial crisis and trying to cripple the CFPB from within – all in the name of partisan politics. This would be a major Wall Street win at the expense of millions of American consumers.”

The CFPB’s enforcement actions have delivered nearly $12 billion in relief for 29 million American consumers. ​

While in Congress, Mulvaney said that the CFPB should not even exist, and called the agency a “sick, sad” “joke.” During that time, Mulvaney also accepted $683,973 in campaign contributions from the financial sector, which the CFPB has regulatory powers over.​

Today, he doubled-down on his attack.

WATCH: 

Mick Mulvaney in Press Conference: “I don’t know how to answer that question.  I’ll talk about my previous statements about the bureau.  How about that?  Yeah, my opinion of the structure of the CFPB has not changed. I still think it’s an awful example of a bureaucracy that has gone wrong.”