Trump administration shrinks CFPB's oversight in discrimination cases

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will no longer have enforcement powers when pursuing anti-discrimination cases made against financial firms, the Washington Post reports. The CFPB's Office of Fair Lending and Equal Opportunity — which once penalized lenders for systematically charging minority consumers higher interest rates than white consumers — will only have an advocacy and education role moving forward.

The backdrop: This switch comes two months after White House budget chief Mick Mulvaney took over as acting director of the CFPB, an agency established under Obama and criticized by Republicans. Prior to assuming the role, Mulvaney had called the CFPB a "sick, sad joke."