Sen. Elizabeth Warren & her allies want lenders, like local community banks, to collect 81 Data Points of information on their Small Business Customers
AUSTIN, Texas (Texas Insider Report) — Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), government employee unions, and professional protesters were off the leash last week with continued attacks on Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Their latest claim is that private information about American citizens and businesses could be exposed if Musk and company evaluate the Internal Revenue Service and Warren’s favorite “watchdog” agency, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
Those protesting – as Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) recently pointed out – are the same politicians that “wanted to hire 80,000 new IRS Agents with guns to audit the American people,” referencing a proposal for the IRS to track personal bank account transactions of $600 or more.
"If it weren't for DOUBLE-standards, there wouldn't be any standards at all in this town, Washington, DC," said Sen. Kennedy.
But that was just the beginning.
Sen. Warren and her allies also want to force lenders, like local community banks, to collect 81 data points of information on their small business customers to satisfy CFPB’s over-reaching Sec. 1071 Final Rule.
This includes the collection of highly personal information regarding customer sexual orientation.
This brings us to last Sunday night’s edition of the CBS program "60 Minutes."
But that was just the beginning.Sen. Warren and her allies also want to force lenders, like local community banks, to collect 81 data points of information on their small business customers to satisfy CFPB’s over-reaching Sec. 1071 Final Rule.
This includes the collection of highly personal information regarding customer sexual orientation.
This brings us to last Sunday night’s edition of the CBS program "60 Minutes."
Host Leslie Stahl and her production team attempted to make Sen. Warren’s case that a review of CFPB by Musk and company might put sensitive personal and business data at risk. Yet there was not a single mention from Ms. Stahl about the massive data breach that actually occurred at CFPB in 2023. That breach, under the leadership of Sen. Warren’s hand-picked CFPB Director Rohit Chopra, compromised the data of a quarter million Americans.
Instead of asking Chopra about that breach, the Stahl report featured former CFPB employees praising the thoroughness of the bureau’s data security training and employee background checks.
“It includes a detailed run of our background, fingerprints, talking to neighbors and friends to make sure we are who we say we are,” said Hannah Hickman, one of the former CFPB staffers.
Meanwhile, former Bureau inspector Lorelei Salas expressed concerns about what might happen if DOGE personnel are allowed to examine CFPB systems.
“I'm worried about your account number, your social security number being out there,” she said.
The hypocrisy is simply shameless.
- Where were these outspoken bureaucrats in 2023?
- Why didn’t Sen. Warren and her allies protest outside of the CFPB headquarters then?
- And where was 60 Minutes?
You’ll have to read about the 2023 CFPB breach, because you won’t see Leslie Stahl ask Rohit Chopra about it on 60 Minutes. Who is watching the “watchdogs”?
This is precisely why the work of DOGE is important no matter how much barking comes from some corners of Capitol Hill.
- READ MORE: Obama Official says Elizabeth Warren's Way Is... the Wrong Way
- Many of America's economic champions – like banks and tech giants – would be dismembered. Private equity would be effectively eliminated.
Perhaps DOGE should look into the effectiveness of the CFPB training and background checks that were touted in the 60 Minutes report. DOGE could review how much in taxpayer dollars were expended in CFPB’s efforts that failed to protect the data of 250,000 Americans.
The Texas Bankers Association and banks across America vigorously opposed the IRS Surveillance Proposal, and TBA has taken the CFPB to court on its overreaching rule to gather reams of data on small business owners.
But the new Congress and Administration can go a long way in protecting Americans’ data by reducing the amount of government regulation that collects so much of it in the first place.
But the new Congress and Administration can go a long way in protecting Americans’ data by reducing the amount of government regulation that collects so much of it in the first place.
Reforms at CFPB and other Regulatory Agencies should focus on fundamental safety, soundness, and fairness, rather than enabling the unaccountable bureaucrats and extreme political agendas that have brought Sen. Warren’s pet agency under much-needed scrutiny.
Chris Furlow is President & CEO of the Texas Bankers Association. He has served as a Deputy Assistant Secretary of Commerce, director for State Affairs in the White House Office of Homeland Security, was a member of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's National Security Task Force & Cybersecurity Leadership Council, and has been appointed to the Texas Cybersecurity Council. 
