May 4, 2011
Many opponents of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau scored a victory this week when a House Financial Services subcommittee, in a mainly partisan decision, approved a trio of bills that would limit the new agency’s regulatory powers.
“While Republicans maintained the legislation was an attempt to improve the bureau, House Democrats painted the bills as a backdoor attempt to kill the agency before it even begins work in July,” reports The Hill.
The bills are now scheduled to be reviewed by the entire committee on May 12. House Financial Services Committee Chairman Rep. Spencer Bachus (R-AL) is sponsoring the “The Responsible Consumer Financial Protection Regulations Act of 2011” (H.R. 1121) that would put the agency under the leadership of a five-member board instead of a single director. Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) after the meeting told reporters that the bill was “wrong” and “unfair.”
“She argued that Republicans in the Senate can simply block any presidential nominees to be director, which in turn would prevent the CFPB from doing anything,” reports The Hill.
Travis Plunkett, legislative director at the Consumer Federation of America, agrees, stating earlier this week that the panel format would “stop the [CFPB] from acting quickly in helping consumers.” (Read more)
Another yet-to-be-named bill would postpone the launch of the CFPB until a director has been named. “The Consumer Financial Protection Safety and Soundness Improvement Act of 2011” (H.R. 1315) is also up for consideration.
Yet subcommittee Chairwoman Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) countered that the bills were in “good faith.”
“Some have characterized these measures as an attack on the CFPB,” she said, according to The Hill. “I couldn’t disagree more. These three bills are an effort to make sure that Congress is doing its job and there is a watchdog for the watchdog.”
Obama will soon name Special Treasury Department Adviser and controversial consumer advocate Elizabeth Warren as his pick for CFPB Director, speculated ICBA President Camden Fine said earlier this week.
ABA Head Says He Would Support Warren Nomination
Major Consumer Groups Protest Bills to Alter CFPB
Obama Will Nominate Warren Soon, Predicts ICBA President
Warren Fires Back at CFPB Opponents: Bills Will “Defang” Agency
Jon Stewart Welcomes Elizabeth Warren on “The Daily Show”
An Inside Look at Warren’s Meeting Schedule
Geithner Says CFPB Director Nomination Could Still Go to Warren
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