On Wednesday, four U.S. senators warned Russell Vought that if he follows through on plans to shutter the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), it could jeopardize the issuance of benchmark mortgage rates “lenders rely on every day.”

In a letter addressed to Vought — the bureau’s acting director since February — Democratic senators Elizabeth Warren, Raphael Warnock, Ruben Gallego and Andy Kim cautioned that if the CFPB’s remaining employees were to be furloughed, it may disrupt the weekly issuance of average prime offer rates (APORs).

“If the CFPB stops publishing standardized APOR tables, lenders might not make loans to lower-income borrowers, given the risk of coming in too far above the APOR and potentially getting sued,” the senators wrote. “Or, they might raise interest rates on loans to compensate for the increased risk the market will price in without the liability shield that comes with making a QM [qualified mortgage] loan — skewing the cost of homeownership and cutting off credit access for borrowers.”

APOR tables, published weekly by the CFPB, are used to determine if a mortgage meets QM requirements. If the loan’s annual percentage rate is a certain percentage higher than the APOR, it is considered a “higher-priced mortgage loan,” with additional lending requirements and added costs for borrowers.

The letter called the APOR information “crucial to the predictability of risk for both lenders and investors on the secondary market.” It also asked Vought to respond by Dec. 16 as to whether the CFPB intends to stop publishing APOR tables and if the bureau has developed alternatives.

Responding to a request for comment, a CFPB spokesperson referred Scotsman Guide to previous reporting from the trade publication Capitol Account, in which a bureau spokesperson indicated the CFPB would provide mortgage lenders with a methodology to mimic the APOR calculations based on readily available data.

“Crucially, the bureau also plans to underscore that using the alternative method won’t expose firms to enforcement actions,” the Capitol Account article paraphrased.

Concern over the potential cessation of APOR publication arose shortly after Vought took over as acting CFPB chief on Feb. 7. He closed the agency the following business day, telling staffers to stay away from the office and do no work.

But Vought soon backtracked on a full agency shutdown and ordered the necessary staff back to complete the APOR tables, according to reporting by The American Prospect.

Vought, who also serves as director of the White House’s Office of Management and Budget, has been named as a defendant in a protracted legal battle over mass layoffs at the CFPB and his stated intention to dismantle the bureau, which was established by Congress in 2010.

During a podcast appearance in October, Vought remained confident he would succeed in that goal, saying he believed the administration would close the financial watchdog agency “probably within the next two or three months.”