By now, “we the people” have figured out that the republican President Donald Trump and his sycophants in his administration and in the US Congress have been rarely taking concrete steps to help the average Joe worker.

Nowhere is this more true than when it comes to protecting consumers as they cater to the banking institutions that manage the student loan business and the “for profit” colleges . It looks like they have been deliberately blocking the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) from addressing consumer student loan complaints with these entities.

As per a 8/27/18 VOX report by Emily Stewart, “Seth Frotman, the student loan ombudsman at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), wrote in a scathing letter on Monday that bureau leadership “has turned its back on young people and their financial futures.”

“The letter, to acting CFPB Director Mick Mulvaney and other leadership, accuses the agency of siding with business interests over the consumers it is supposed to protect — including suppressing a report on how banks were ripping off students.”

“Under your leadership, the Bureau has abandoned the very consumers it is tasked by Congress with protecting,” Frotman wrote. “Instead, you have used the Bureau to serve the wishes of the most powerful financial companies in America.”

“The Associated Press was first to report Frotman’s resignation. NPR published the letter in full.”

Link to entire article: The government’s top student loan watchdog is quitting in protest – Vox

Here is the rest of the story…

On August 27. 2018, Michael Stratford of Politico penned the following report, “Top student loan official at consumer agency quits over Trump policies”

Excerpts:

“The top official overseeing student loans at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau resigned on Monday in protest of Trump administration policies that he said were harming students and families.”

“Seth Frotman, the student loan ombudsman at the CFPB, said in a letter to acting Director Mick Mulvaney that political leadership at the consumer bureau over the last 10 months had repeatedly undermined efforts by career employees to take action against abuses by student loan companies and for-profit colleges.”

“It is clear that current leadership of the bureau has abandoned its duty to fairly and robustly enforce the law,” Frotman wrote in the scathing resignation letter, which was obtained by POLITICO. “The Bureau’s new political leadership has repeatedly undercut and undermined career CFPB staff working to secure relief for consumers.”

“Frotman has served as the consumer bureau’s top student loan official since 2016. He initially joined the CFBP when was being created in 2011, working on military service member issues as a senior adviser to Holly Petraeus.”

Frotman’s resignation, which is effective Sept. 1, underscores the growing frustration by consumer advocates and Democrats that the Trump administration is dismantling protections for the nation’s more than 42 million student loan borrowers who collectively owe $1.5 trillion.”

“In his letter, Frotman said that CFPB leaders late last year had “suppressed the publication of a report prepared by bureau staff” that showed evidence the nation’s largest banks were “ripping off students on campuses across the country by saddling them with legally dubious account fees.”

“Education Secretary Betsy DeVos earlier this year issued guidance that said states lacked the authority to regulate and investigate companies collecting federal student loans. The Justice Department has weighed in with similar arguments in several court cases involving student loan companies.”

“Rep. Bobby Scott of Virginia, the top Democrat on the House education committee, said that Frotman’s allegation that the CFPB concealed information about banks charging college students legally dubious fees “warrants immediate investigation.”

“I am calling for congressional hearings to examine the bureau’s sudden withdrawal from its necessary role in protecting students and student loan borrowers from predatory companies,” Scott said in a statement.”

“Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said on Twitter that the Trump administration “has forced another cop from the beat when it comes to protecting students from predatory #4profit colleges, loan servicers and repayment scams.”

“Mulvaney announced earlier this year that the student loan office that Frotman leads would be dismantled and folded into the bureau’s financial education unit. The CFPB also said it was backing off a long-planned effort to consider new rules for companies that collect student loan payments.”

“In addition, the Education Department last year cut off information-sharing agreements with the CFPB, accusing the bureau of overstepping its authority in overseeing federal student loans.”