Senator’s Budget Amendment Targets ‘Reckless’ CFPB

A Georgia senator has introduced amendments to the Senate’s 2015 Budget Resolution regarding what he calls the “reckless” Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). United States Sen. David Perdue (R-Georgia) said in a press release, the budget amendments would “provide critical congressional oversight” towards the CFPB, which he claims is a rouge agency.

“The reckless Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was spawned from the disastrous Dodd-Frank financial regulation law,” Perdue said. “Right now, the CFPB is a rogue agency that dishes out malicious financial policy and creates new rules and regulations without any oversight from Congress. On top of that, the agency itself has failed to operate within its own budget and proven it is more concerned with preserving its own power than protecting the public. Ultimately, I believe the CFPB should be dismantled, but an important first step is bringing it into the light for the American people to see its harmful effects on consumers.”

The senator’s proposed budget amendment will make the CFPB subject to congressional appropriations process because currently the CFPB operates under the Fed, not Congress. The amendment stressed for more congressional oversight given the CFPB receives roughly $600 million of the Fed’s annual operating expenses.

Perdue isn’t the first one to suggest major changes to the CFPB. Earlier this month  U.S. Representative Randy Neugebauer introduced legislation that would replace the director of the CFPB with a bipartisan five member commission. His proposed bill would also change the name of the CFPB to the Financial Product Safety Commission and steer the organization away from Federal Reserve funding to instead using its own budget. Last month, Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) revived legislation that would appoint an independent inspector general to the CFPB in hopes to improve oversight. Reps. Steve Stivers (R-Ohio) and Tim Walz (D-Minnesota) revived a similar bill last month in the House.