RSSDave Uejio, acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, reiterated his focus on consumer financial issues stemming from the pandemic and discrimination.
While Biden nominee Rohit Chopra waits for Senate confirmation, Uejio has made it clear that his tenure at the agency’s helm will be an active one. In a two-minute video posted on the bureau’s website, Uejio summarized events over the past year and a half which he said illustrated the necessity of an aggressive approach, from the police killing of George Floyd to a recent increase in anti-Asian discrimination.
“Our nation is in the midst of a long-overdue conversation about race,” he said. “Racial inequity has been the work of centuries, and racial justice will be the work of generations.” Uejio cited his personal and familial history in support of his focus on racial justice. A third-generation Japanese-American, Uejio said his great-uncle was interned during World War II.
“As acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, my top priorities are to take bold and swift action to address issues of pervasive racial injustice and the long-term economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on consumers,” Uejio said in a written message accompanying the video. “Growing opportunities for those who have historically been denied them increases opportunity for everyone.”
In a January blog post shortly after being named acting director, Uejio said he plans to focus on the companies who are involved in providing pandemic relief through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act. The CFPB would also target racial discrimination supervision issues, especially fair lending violations, and other factors that affect “communities of color and other vulnerable populations,” he said.
Under his guidance, the CFPB has backed the CDC’s eviction moratorium, enacted a foreclosure ban, and issued a report detailing the rise in consumer complaints in minority counties.
