Legislation to eliminate all funding for CFPB introduced in House, Senate

Editor's Note: This article, authored bBallard CFS Group of Ballard Spahr, previously appeared on Ballard Spahr’s Consumer Finance Monitor and is re-published here with permission.
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Legislation that would eliminate all funding for the CFPB has been introduced in the House and Senate, with the main House sponsor now calling for the bill to be placed on a fast track by including it in budget reconciliation.

Rep. Keith Self, R-Texas, has introduced H.R. 814 and Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas has introduced S. 303.  A federal judge temporarily has blocked the Trump Administration from dismantling the bureau.

In a letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., Self, and Reps. Tom Tiffany, R-Wis., and Randy K. Weber, Sr., R-Texas, asked that the legislation be included in the budget reconciliation legislation the House will soon be considering, asserting, without elaboration, that it is consistent with the Byrd Rule limitations on such amendments.

If so, and if the House agrees to include it, that could ensure that the legislation would not be filibustered in the Senate. Defeating a filibuster requires 60 votes in the Senate, while budget reconciliation matters only require 50 votes.

 “This bill is essential to advancing conservative fiscal policy by cutting off all funding to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and ensuring that this rogue agency is permanently eliminated,” the three House members wrote

They continued, “This demonstrates a clear commitment to dismantling the agency altogether. This aligns with the long-standing position amongst conservative Members of Congress that the CFPB operates without meaningful oversight and imposes unnecessary burdens on the financial sector.”

“The CFPB has long been a source of regulatory overreach, with its funding mechanism shielding it from congressional accountability,” the members wrote.

They also asserted that by reducing the agency’s statutory cap to zero, the legislation could not be revived by future administrations.