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Petersen criticizes Trump administration's impact on CFPB

enforcement

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CFPB leadership accused of dismantling enforcement

function

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Republicans criticize CFPB's power; Democrats defend its

consumer role

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CFPB's enforcement cases against Capital One and Walmart ( WMT )

dropped

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Federal court to rule on CFPB staff firing injunction

By Douglas Gillison

June 10 (Reuters) - The top remaining enforcement

official at the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has

tendered her resignation, saying the White House's overhaul of

the agency had made her position untenable, according to an

email seen by Reuters.

Acting Enforcement Director Cara Petersen, who has served at

the agency since its creation nearly 15 years ago, said that

current leadership under President Donald Trump "has no

intention to enforce the law in any meaningful way."

"I have served under every director and acting director in

the bureau's history and never before have I seen the ability to

perform our core mission so under attack," Petersen wrote in an

email.

"It has been devastating to see the bureau's enforcement

function being dismantled through thoughtless reductions in

staff, inexplicable dismissals of cases, and terminations of

negotiated settlements that let wrongdoers off the hook."

Petersen's departure comes four months after the agency's

enforcement and supervision chiefs also resigned amid efforts by

President Donald Trump to dismantle the CFPB.

An agency spokesperson and Petersen did not immediately

respond to requests for comment.

In addition to seeking to cut the CFPB's workforce by about 90

percent, acting Director Russell Vought and chief legal officer

Mark Paoletta have said they will slash agency enforcement and

supervision and have dropped major CFPB enforcement cases en

masse, including against Capital One and Walmart ( WMT )

. The agency has even revised some cases already settled

under the prior administration.

The dramatic changes come as Republicans have complained for

years the CFPB, created in the aftermath of the global financial

crisis, is too powerful and lacks oversight. Democrats and

agency backers contend it plays a critical role policing

financial markets on behalf of consumers.

"While I wish you all the best, I worry for American

consumers," said Petersen in her email.

A federal appeals court in Washington has yet to decide on the

Trump administration's effort to undo a court injunction

blocking the agency from firing most agency staff.