IF ONLY CONGRESS COULD AGREE TO ZERO FUNDING FOR AGENCIES: One of the bizarre features of the CFPB’s unconstitutional structure is that the Bureau gets no funding from Congress. Instead, the Director simply writes to the Fed requesting funds, which the Fed has to grant up to a certain variable limit. Acting Director Mick Mulvaney has just put in his first such request – for $0.

Politico Pro reports:

In a letter to Fed chair Janet Yellen obtained by POLITICO, Mulvaney wrote that the bureau already has $177 million in the bank, enough to cover the $145 million the bureau has budgeted for its second quarter. Cordray had maintained a “reserve fund” in case of overruns or emergencies, but Mulvaney said he didn’t see any reason for it, since the Fed has always given the bureau the money it needs. Mulvaney, who is also Trump’s budget director, noted that instead of advancing the funds to the bureau, the Fed could return them to the Treasury and reduce the deficit.

“While this approximately $145 million may not make much of a dent in the deficit, the men and women at the Bureau are proud to do their part to be responsible stewards of taxpayer dollars,” Mulvaney wrote.

I can’t stop smiling.

ETA: More from the excellent Paul Bedard at the Washington Examiner here.