Lawmaker Pushes for Next Step in CFPB Reform

While Republicans have tried for the last five-plus years to roll back Dodd-Frank and have proposed various measures to reform the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) which was created from Dodd-Frank, their efforts have finally gained some traction in the last month or so.

Now that his bill proposing a measure of CFPB reform has passed the House Financial Services Committee, Rep. Andy Barr (R-Kentucky) said the next step is for House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-California) to schedule the bill for the House floor.

Barr’s bill, H.R. 1486, known as the Taking Account of Bureaucrats’ Spending (TABS) Act of 2015, passed in the Committee earlier in April by a vote of 33 to 20. The TABS Act aims to make the CFPB more accountable to taxpayers and ensures effective oversight of the Bureau by Congress.

In a public speech earlier this week, Barr explained the need for CFPB reform, saying “The CFPB has targeted your industry with inflammatory press releases, published complaints without any context and continues to hold over you the threat of regulatory action through policy guidance or unprecedented enforcement action.”

The TABS Act authorizes an annual budget of $485.1 million for the CFPB, which is the same amount that CFPB Director Richard Cordray said was necessary to fund the Bureau for the most recent fiscal year, according to the Committee.

“Every government agency should be accountable to the elected representatives of ‘We the People’ and the CFPB should not be an exception to that rule.”

Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas), Chairman, House Financial Services Committee

“Every government agency should be accountable to the elected representatives of ‘We the People’ and the CFPB should not be an exception to that rule,” said Jeb Hensarling, Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee. “We have the Pentagon which is on budget. We have the Justice Department which is on budget. There is certainly no greater duty we have than to provide for the common defense, and we do not let the Pentagon write its own budget. We should not let the CFPB write its own budget. It is a base matter of congressional oversight and of Article I authority.”

While any legislation that rolls back Dodd-Frank or proposes any changes to post-Wall Street financial reform is generally solidly divided among party lines, Barr said he expects the TABS Act to receive support from some of his Democratic colleagues who are not members of the House Financial Services Committee.