While there appear to be some in the Republican Party who simply want to reform the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, there are at least two Republicans on Capitol Hill who want to kill the agency altogether.
In recent weeks, the sharks began to circle the CFPB, as Republicans set their sights on changing the way the agency functions, including making significant changes to the CFPB’s leadership structure and eliminating the CFPB’s controversial complaint database.
But those efforts pale in comparison to a pair of matching bills introduced Tuesday in the House of Representatives and the Senate, which would abolish the CFPB entirely.
The bills, introduced by Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Rep. John Ratcliffe, R-Texas, would repeal Title X of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act, which established the CFPB.
Repealing Title X would completely abolish the CFPB, which, in the eyes of Cruz and Ratcliffe, does the exact opposite of what it is intended to do.
“Don’t let the name fool you, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau does little to protect consumers. During the Obama administration, the CFPB grew in power and magnitude without any accountability to Congress and the people, and I am encouraged by the actions President Trump has begun to take to roll back the harmful impacts of an out-of-control bureaucracy,” Cruz said.
“The legislation that Rep. Ratcliffe and I are introducing today gives Congress the opportunity to free consumers and small businesses from the CFPB’s regulatory blockades and financial activism, which stunt economic growth,” Cruz continued. “While there’s much more to do to scale back the harmful regulatory impositions of Dodd-Frank, this legislation takes a critical step in the right direction.”
This isn’t Cruz and Ratcliffe’s first attempt to kill the CFPB. Nearly two years ago, Cruz and Ratcliffe introduced a bill that also would have abolished the CFPB.
And now they’re trying again, emboldened by President Donald Trump’s undergoing efforts to roll back much (if not all) of Dodd-Frank.
“The past several years showed us precisely why massive swaths of federal regulations are never the right solution to help hard-working Americans. President Trump has made it clear he’ll join us in our fight to dismantle Dodd-Frank and finally offer some relief to the small business owners throughout Texas and across the country who’ve been hit hardest by its devastating impact,” Ratcliffe said.
“The CFPB’s lack of accountability to the American people was quickly evidenced when – contrary to its name – it ended up hurting many of the very folks it was intended to help,” Ratcliffe continued. “While Sen. Cruz and I have been sounding the alarm on the CFPB’s federal overreach for some time now, I’m optimistic at our renewed chances of advancing this effort with a willing partner in the White House.”
To see the Senate version of the bill in full, click here.
