Published: June 2015

Keep the “consumer watchdog” independent of partisan politics

The House Appropriations Committee is reviewing a provision in the “Financial Services and General Government” appropriations bill that would bring funding for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) under the annual congressional appropriations process, instead of continuing to fund the agency directly from the Federal Reserve. This means partisan politics stands to restrict the CFPB’s regulatory authority by holding its purse strings and requiring the agency submit unnecessary reporting.

In a letter to the House Appropriations Committee, Consumer Action joined coalition advocates in urging legislators to oppose the Financial Services and General Government appropriations bill. The bill contains language that would force unnecessary reporting requirements on the agency, as well as eliminate its independent funding source – a critical component to the agency’s success so far. The CFPB is currently funded in a way that insulates it from the pressures that Wall Street and other financial sectors. Changing the CFPB’s independent funding would leave the CFPB more vulnerable than the Federal Reserve, the OCC, and the FDIC to industry influence, once again treating consumer financial protection as a less important matter. The changes would significantly weaken a landmark accomplishment of the Dodd-Frank Act, which established the CFPB as the nation’s first independent regulator of consumer financial markets.

Lead Organization

Americans for Financial Reform (AFR)

Other Organizations

Alabama Appleseed Center for Law & Justice Alliance for a Just Society | Americans for Financial Reform | Center for Responsible Lending | Consumer Action | Consumer Federation of America Consumers Union | Empire Justice Center | ESOP: Empowering and Strengthening Ohio's People | Main Street Alliance | MFY Legal Services, Inc. | NAACP | National Association of Consumer Advocates | National Consumer Law Center (on behalf of its low income clients) | National Fair Housing Alliance | National People's Action | New Economy Project | New Jersey Citizen Action | Public Citizen | Tennessee Citizen Action | The Other 98% | U.S. PIRG | Woodstock Institute

More Information

For more information, visit AFR's website.

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Keep the “consumer watchdog” independent of partisan politics   (HouseFSGGAppropriationsLetter6.16.15.compressed.pdf)