Senators Scuffle Over CFPB’s Payday Lending Regulations

In a bit of jousting just before the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is slated to present a semiannual report to Congress, senators on both sides of the aisle alternately championed and decried the bureau’s track record on protecting consumers from various financial malfeasances.

As noted by MarketWatch on Tuesday (April 5), Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL) stated that the CFPB, which traces its genesis to the 2008 financial crisis, is indeed falling short of the mandate to protect consumers, with a standing, Shelby asserted, as “one of the least accountable agencies in the federal government.” Shelby maintained that scrutiny is key as new regulations take shape.

Conversely, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), along with Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), the highest-ranking Democrat on the committee, stated that efforts to curtail or eliminate the CFPB would be a mistake, given the fact that the actions by the bureau have garnered $11 billion from companies being returned to more than 25 million consumers.

Separately, MSNBC reported that new rules for payday lending may not take shape for a bit, but Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), who heads the DNC, is gearing up for public debate.