More than a dozen Republican senators are backing a bill to give Congress greater control and oversight of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), The Hill reported today. Sen. David Perdue (R-Ga.) will introduce a bill yesterday to let Congress control the CFPB’s budget. Titled the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Accountability Act of 2017, the bill would place the CFPB under the congressional appropriations process, letting lawmakers control its budget. That would give Congress the ability to drastically limit the scope and size of the bureau, regardless of who controls it. The CFPB, opened in 2011 per a section of the Dodd-Frank financial reform law mandating its creation, is currently independently funded by the Federal Reserve. The bill is co-sponsored by Republican Sens. John Barrasso (Wyo.), John Boozman (Ark.), Ted Cruz (Texas), Steve Daines (Mont.), Mike Enzi (Wyo.), John Hoeven (N.D.), Johnny Isakson (Ga.), Ron Johnson (Wis.), John Kennedy (La.), Mike Lee (Utah), Rand Paul (Ky.), Marco Rubio (Fla.) and Thom Tillis (N.C.).
