Frustrated by the political partisanship and lack of any oversight to CFPB Directors, Missouri Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer (R), has introduced H.R. 4773, the “Consumer Financial Protection Commission Act.” This bill seeks to amend the structure of the CFPB as well as its name. This bill has the support of both the Credit Union National Association (CUNA) and the National Association of Federally Insured Credit Unions.
Luetkemeyer, a ranking member of the House Financial Services Committee’s Subcommittee on Consumer Protection and Financial Institutions stated, “The Bureau is constantly being used as a political football due to the almost limitless power of its director,” as his motivation.
“Allowing one person to wield such unchecked authority over our economy is irresponsible and verges on negligence, which is precisely why many financial regulators are governed by a commission. The CFPB is currently being overseen by a single Acting Director who continues to make major, partisan policy decisions as he sees fit. The need for a bipartisan commission has never been clearer.”
Amongst Luetkemeyer’s bill proposals is;
- The elimination of the Director position.
- The creation of a five-member commission appointed in staggering terms for no more than five years.
- These commission seats are to be appointed by the sitting President at the time of a chair’s term expires.
- The president would have the power to remove any commissioner for inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office.
- Changing the name to “The Consumer Financial Protection Commission.”
All of this is happening in the backdrop as President Biden’s pick for the Director position, Rohit Chopra, faces confirmation in the Senate. Republican members of the Senate Banking Committee have already asked that Rohit Chopra be disqualified from being confirmed as director after refusing, or failing, to respond to a congressional request seeking information about an alleged and sudden purge of career civil servants at the CFPB under the Biden administration.
“This bill is an appropriate solution to the instability that has been part of the CFPB leadership structure since its inception, and shows no sign of changing in the future, as President Biden’s current nominee would be the third director in nine years,” said CUNA President/CEO Jim Nussle. “Financial institutions and consumers deserve stability at an agency that affects so much of our financial sector, particularly as we work to come out of the pandemic.”
“NAFCU has continued to support the establishment of a bipartisan commission at the CFPB to provide greater transparency, accountability, and long-term stability at the bureau. We thank Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer for the reintroduction of this important legislation,” said NAFCU President and CEO Dan Berger.
His proposal, however, faces stiff resistance in a Democrat controlled House.
This is not the first time that Luetkemeyer has proposed this bill. On March 5, 2020, he had made the identical proposal in H.R. 6116. This bill received 25 sponsors but never came to vote as the Covid national emergency took the center stage weeks later.
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