Nashville Standard

United States Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN), a member of the Senate Appropriations and Banking Committees, has reintroduced the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Accountability Act. The legislation, initially introduced in 2021, aims to require that the CFPB's funding be appropriated by Congress, aligning it with other Executive Branch agencies. Currently, the Federal Reserve provides the CFPB with requested funding within certain limits, allowing the agency to operate without fiscal accountability typical for other Executive Branch entities.

"The CFPB must be required to go through the regular congressional appropriations process to ensure public accountability," said Senator Hagerty. "As a lifelong businessman, protecting consumers in the financial marketplace is important, but handing vast government regulatory power to an agency that is not accountable to the American people’s elected representatives is unacceptable. Americans deserve to have far greater input in this agency."

Ranking Member Scott expressed concerns about the current leadership of the CFPB under Director Chopra: "Under Director Chopra, the CFPB continues to brush aside congressional concerns, forge ahead with political agendas, and push past the boundaries of its authority – all to the detriment of the consumers it’s supposed to protect." He added that subjecting the CFPB to congressional appropriations would increase accountability and help Congress ensure adherence to its mission.

Senator Britt also criticized the CFPB's operations: "The CFPB has continued to operate as a partisan, rogue regulator, acting far outside of its congressional mandate and without any true accountability to Congress." She emphasized that this legislation would hold the Bureau accountable by involving it in the congressional appropriations process.

Senator Cramer highlighted issues with oversight: "The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is a single-director agency which is less accountable to Congress because it is not subject to the regular appropriations process like other federal agencies." He joined Senator Hagerty in introducing this legislation for increased congressional oversight.

Senator Kennedy pointed out concerns about bureaucratic overreach: "The bureaucratic state is always trying to grab more power and minimize its accountability. CFPB bureaucrats don’t rely on Congress for funding—which means the bureau isn’t accountable to American taxpayers in key ways. That needs to change."

Senator Lummis commented on regulatory issues under President Biden's administration: "President Biden has created a bloated government that is a regulatory nightmare, and it’s time for some accountability. It is time to subject the CFPB to the appropriations process like other federal agencies."

Senator Tillis addressed disparities in pay scales: "The government bureaucrats who created the CFPB continually sought to remove the agency from meaningful oversight and provide it with preferential treatment, all the way down to ignoring the widely-used federal government GS pay scale for CFPB employees." He called this legislation a commonsense step towards restoring parity among federal agencies.

In May, The U.S. Supreme Court decided Consumer Financial Protection Bureau v. Community Financial Services Association of America but did not overturn CFPB’s funding structure. This decision underscores what proponents see as a need for congressional action.

Co-sponsors of this bill include Senators Tim Scott (R-SC), Katie Britt (R-AL), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Mike Crapo (R-ID), Steve Daines (R-MT), Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), John Kennedy (R-LA), Mike Rounds (R-SD), and Thom Tillis (R-NC).

Full text of the CFPB Accountability Act can be found here.

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