The House Financial Services committee approved two bills yesterday that would repeal a post-recession bailout fund and give Congress control of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) budget, The Hill reported today. The committee passed (33-20) the Taking Account of Bureaucrats’ Spending (TABS) Act, which would subject the CFPB to the congressional appropriations process. The CFPB is currently funded by a dedicated revenue stream from the Federal Reserve and operates on a budget requested by the director. Republicans, most of whom oppose the CFPB’s existence, have long been critical of the bureau’s funding process and Congress’s limited control. The TABS Act would give legislators more say over CFPB operations and opens the door to defunding the agency all together. Democrats have fought against several Republican efforts to curb CFPB authority, and ranking Democrat Rep. Maxine Waters (Calif.) insisted the TABS Act is intended to “repeal the very existence of the bureau.” The committee also passed a bill (34-22) to repeal Title II of Dodd-Frank regulatory reform law. That section created the Orderly Liquidation Authority (OLA), which authorizes Federal Deposit Insurance Commission (FDIC) funding to dismantle a major domestic financial firm without igniting an economic crisis. The FDIC would later be reimbursed through a fee on other large firms. Read more.
What aspects of the CFPB should you be concerned about for your practice? Attend the “What is the CFPB, and Why Do I Care?” session tomorrow at ABI’s Annual Spring Meeting to find out!
