Financial Services Committee Ranking Member Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) said Tuesday that Democrats did not request cancelation of the CFPB discrimination hearing held last week.

Waters was responding to remarks from Financial Services Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) during a full committee hearing titled “Who's in Your Wallet: Examining How Washington Red Tape Impairs Economic Freedom.”

“The Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee received testimony from a high-ranking CFPB whistleblower concerning serious allegations of discrimination and retaliation at the bureau. Her testimony was corroborated by the CFPB's own independent investigator,” Hensarling said. “Both testified as to many other CFPB employees who have lodged these same allegations. 

“What was the response from Democratic leadership on the committee? They demanded the hearing be canceled. In other words, the matter would regrettably be swept under the rug. Hidden from public view. Ignored,” the Texas Republican said.

Waters shot back, saying, “I must set the record straight and I must share with this committee that the Democrats did not ask for a cancellation of the hearing. We asked that the hearing be canceled because in fact you had set out to hold a hearing based on a report that was aired in the American Banker. You changed the makeup of that hearing and went in another direction.”

As CU Times previously reported, Waters and Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Ranking Member Al Green (D-Texas) wrote a letter to the majority asking for the hearing to be canceled.

“It is our hope that in canceling the hearing, you will instead commit to working in a bipartisan manner to fully investigate potential discrimination, as well as efforts to achieve equality of opportunity within all federal agencies, as well as the various industries within our committee's jurisdiction,” Waters and Green wrote on March 28.  “It is only under a careful and intentional committee investigation that we may begin to unravel these disparities and identify workable solutions to achieve our shared goals.”

The hearing was ultimately held on April 2. Angela Martin, senior enforcement attorney at the CFPB, detailed alleged gender and racial discrimination among CFPB managers.