'I Kind Of Wish You'd Stayed Because You'd Be The First One To Get Fired': Norman Pans Dem's Witness

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During a House Financial Services Committee hearing, Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC) tore into the former General Counsel for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Seth Frotman, and questioned other witnesses about the agency's impact on small businesses.  Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:  https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript   Stay Connected Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes More From Forbes:  http://forbes.com

Transcript

00:00Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

00:01You know, I think it's, and thank all of you for taking the time to come.

00:05I'm a businessman.

00:06I'm a real estate developer.

00:08Mr. Frotman, your comments are outrageous, to be honest with you.

00:15You're talking the Democrat points.

00:17I'm glad you're bringing up Elon Musk.

00:19The American people owe a debt of gratitude to a man that's showing where tax money is

00:23going.

00:24They don't agree with it.

00:2627 million people do not agree with the former president.

00:31And in your, you resigned twice under Trump.

00:36You resigned most recently in February of 2025.

00:40I kind of wish you'd stay because you'd be the first one to get fired.

00:43And let me just say this.

00:44The fact that Congressman, the fact that you're on the student loan, you formed the Student

00:49Protection, Borough Protection Center.

00:53You took part in the Biden administration's.

00:56of loans.

00:57The people that you talk about, the veterans and the poor families, their tax dollars meant

01:02to pay student loans that they were forced to pay.

01:06And now, I think what is what is appalling is the richest man in America telling dedicated

01:12public servants who want to protect service members and students.

01:16Do you not have any decency?

01:18Do you not have any?

01:19This isn't your, this isn't your platform.

01:22I've got three minutes left.

01:24I'm going to ask it to some sane people over here.

01:27So, but the fact that you took money, took part in paying off loans that the taxpayers

01:33had no say so in is unbelievable.

01:36Ms. Coon, one of Dr. Chopra's midnight rulemaking moves before he left was remove medical debt

01:44information from the Consumer Report and prohibits lenders from examining the credit history

01:53of a borrower.

01:55We've got a bill up that we're trying to get out of committee.

01:58But do you think the CFPB even has the authority under the Fair Credit Reporting Act to require

02:06the removal of a debt that they owe?

02:12And the payment of it, I think, is an important part of a credit report.

02:17Why is it being removed?

02:18And does CFPB have that right to do?

02:25I do not believe they have that right.

02:27The Fair Credit Reporting Act actually addresses medical debt, and it protects consumers' privacy

02:34with respect to their medical information.

02:37It allows financial institutions to use the financial aspect.

02:42Does a consumer have significant medical debt?

02:45And consider that in connection with making a loan or a larger mortgage transaction, for

02:50example.

02:52The rule ignores the restrictions and requirements of the Fair Credit Reporting Act.

02:59It ignores data that had been supplied.

03:02It relies on 10-year-old studies that really have no bearing on what today's market looks

03:09like.

03:10And by the time those studies were conducted by the CFPB to the issuance of the rule, the

03:17market had changed.

03:18It had already made significant changes.

03:20And so it's based on faulty premise.

03:23So it's got a terribly weak record associated with it.

03:27And even the Small Business Administration filed comments raising concerns about the

03:31process that led to the rule.

03:33So I agree that I do not believe they have the authority.

03:38And even under the Administrative Procedures Act, they don't have the record that supports

03:44the steps that they took.

03:46That's the audacity of Mr. Chopra and his disdain for the American people.

03:54And if you're going to exclude medical debt, what about paying your credit card off?

04:01What about paying your loan on your house off?

04:03Why not exclude that?

04:05Why not just exclude everything?

04:07So you really, in student loan repayments, what's left that was so much advocated by

04:15Mr. Frotman to give away from or to force the American people to pay for, what about

04:19excluding that?

04:22And that's one of the concerns about the approach that the CFPB took in the medical debt rule.

04:28What's the next thing that's not popular that they want to take out of the financial system

04:33to hide or mask information?

04:36The legal theory that they used to support the actions they took in the rule would support

04:41them, you know, basically anything they're not happy with, small dollar or student loans

04:46or things like that.

04:48It's my view that that's the role of Congress to make those decisions.

04:51The Fair Credit Reporting Act has a whole section where Congress has decided what's

04:56fair to include and what's not, and they ignore that entirely in the rule.

05:00Okay.

05:01Thank you so much.

05:02Since time has expired, the gentleman from Pennsylvania.

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