WASHINGTON - Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown, the top Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee, on Wednesday said Mick Mulvaney should resign as acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau after telling a group of banking industry executives that he only met with lobbyists who gave him campaign donations when he was a member of Congress.

"Deciding who you will meet with based on campaign contributions is the kind of 'pay to play' that understandably makes Americans furious," said a statement from Brown. "Mr. Mulvaney should resign, and the White House should quickly nominate a permanent CFPB Director with bipartisan support and a moral compass. Banks and payday lenders already have armies of lobbyists on their sides - they don't need one more."

LIVE: after Mick Mulvaney bragged about only meeting with lobbyists if they’d donated to his campaign, Sherrod’s calling for his resignation. “The White House should quickly nominate a permanent @CFPB Director with bipartisan support and a moral compass." https://t.co/zyjNZUUFE9 — Sherrod Brown (@SenSherrodBrown) April 25, 2018

According to The New York Times, Mulvaney told 1,300 bankers and lending industry officials at an American Bankers Association conference in Washington that when he was a congressmen representing South Carolina: "If you're a lobbyist who never gave us money, I didn't talk to you. If you're a lobbyist who gave us money, I might talk to you."

He also said his constituents from South Carolina were his top priority, regardless of whether they gave him financial contributions and he would talk to them "without exception."

During his time in Congress, Mulvaney was an outspoken critic of the consumer bureau. When Ohio's Richard Cordray left his job leading the agency to run for Ohio governor, Mulvaney took control and immediately cut back its enforcement activities.

Mulvaney's defenders say his remarks were meant to stress the importance of people meeting with their own Congress member not to imply political donations are required for access.

"It is a breath of fresh air to hear Sen. Brown acknowledge Mick Mulvaney as the acting director of the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection," said a statement from Mulvaney spokesperson John Czwartacki. "That's a big step forward."