Arkansas’s two U.S. Senators - Republicans Tom Cotton and John Boozman – joined the slimmest of majorities this week to strike down a new rule that would have allowed consumers to band together in class-action lawsuits against credit card companies and banks. It’s a blow to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, created after the 2009 financial crisis.
Democratic Party of Arkansas Chair Michael John Gray discusses the vote with KUAR’s Jacob Kauffman in the interview posted above.
Senator Cotton's office did not respond to a request for an interview. Cotton's office did issue a statement where he called for CFPB head Richard Cordray to resign or be fired for promulgating a "stupid" rule.
“Richard Cordray runs an undemocratic agency and he seems to have forgotten the principle of democratic accountability. The unelected Mr. Cordray issued yet another stupid regulation that would hurt consumers, the people’s democratically elected representatives voted to stop the regulation, and now Mr. Cordray whines that Congress stopped his stupid regulation. It’s well past time for Mr. Cordray to resign and begin his long-expected, losing campaign for Governor of Ohio. If he won’t, President Trump should fire him.”