This is the Cato Daily Podcast for Monday, April 23rd, 2018. I'm Caleb Brown.

For those who are watching Mark Zuckerberg Field Basic Questions about Facebook before Congress, you may have missed

Mick Mulvaney, the embattled heir apparent at the throne of the Embattled Consumer Financial

Protection Bureau, also speaking before Congress. and what he said reveals just how problematic the agency's

continued existence is.

Cato's Diego Zuluaga comments.

It's a weird thing to have a Republican head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau go before Congress

and specifically take questions from Elizabeth Warren,

and I think broadly the CFPB is considered to be her baby.

And to just essentially tell the people that he's gathered before.

Yeah, the statute says that I do have to come here,

but the statute says that I don't have to answer any of your questions.

And that is what Cordray was accused of doing.

So Malvaney's predecessor, when he was head of the CFB,

showing up to Congress and listening to the questions and politely all but declining to answer

and not providing nearly as much insight into the workings of the organization as most other agencies are in fact required to do.

As you say Elizabeth Warren was very involved in the design of this agency and indeed Cordray was

one of her allies and over the first five years the agency

operated in a very independent way but it wasn't independent politically it was

clearly furthering the agenda of of one wing of the of the Democratic Party.

Okay so now Cordray as at head of CFPB he left and there was a big fight over who was going to head this agency and who was the rightful

head of this agency.

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