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Senate Republicans unveil bill to rein in CFPB spending

Want agency brought under Congressional appropriation process

The sharks swimming around the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau now appear to smell blood in the water.

On Tuesday, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Rep. John Ratcliffe, R-Texas, introduced a bill that would abolish the CFPB. The bill comes on the heels of rumors that a Republican-led effort is about to be undertaken in the House of Representatives that would drastically reform the CFPB.

But those who defend the CFPB now have another battle to wage, as several Senate Republicans, Cruz included, unveiled another bill this week that would give Congress oversight of the CFPB.

The bill, called the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Accountability Act of 2017, would bring the CFPB under the Congressional appropriations process.

Currently, the CFPB operates as an independent agency within the government and draws its funding from the Federal Reserve. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Accountability Act of 2017 would change that.

Joining Cruz in introducing the bill were Sens. John Barrasso, R-Wyoming; John Boozman, R-Arkansas; Steve Daines, R-Montana; Mike Enzi, R-Wyoming; Joni Ernst, R-Iowa; John Hoeven, R-North Dakota; Johnny Isakson, R-Georgia; Ron Johnson, R-Wisconsin; John Kennedy, R-Louisiana; Mike Lee, R-Utah; Rand Paul, R-Kentucy; David Perdue, R- Georgia; Marco Rubio, R-Florida; and Thom Tillis, R-North Carolina.

“Ever since the disastrous Dodd-Frank financial regulation law spawned the CFPB, we have witnessed a rogue agency more focused on expanding its power than protecting the public,” Perdue said.

“Even the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals agrees the CFPB is ripe for abuse and its current structure is unconstitutional,” Perdue continued. “It is clear, the CFPB should be subject to more Congressional oversight so we know what they are doing and how they are using all the personal financial information they collect on American consumers.”

Isakson said that the current political climate is a sign that Americans want to see changes at the CFPB.

“The American people have spoken, and they want more choices, less government control and an end to runaway bureaucracy,” Isakson. “I am proud to support efforts to rein in the excessive power of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and make it accountable to Congress and the American people.”

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