ICYMI: U.S. Senator Katie Britt Warns of Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Boondoggle

WASHINGTON, D.C., October 16, 2024 – American Banker recently published a column written by U.S. Senator Katie Britt (R-Ala.) on the increasing politicization and regulatory overreach at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). The Senator argues Congress must act to rein in the CFPB’s excesses, including by subjecting the agency to meaningful Congressional oversight, to protect everyday Americans.

Created in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, the CFPB is an immensely powerful agency, led by a single Director, without any accountability to the American people.

Select excerpts from the column are below. The full piece is available HERE.

“Today, the CFPB acts as a direct extension of the Biden Administration’s partisan agenda—using regulations to further leftwing policies and ideas to the detriment of consumers. There are countless examples, including the White House’s flawed campaign to “eliminate junk fees,” which the President announced while on stage with CFPB Director Chopra, or when Vice President Harris unveiled the CFPB’s own rule on medical debt at a White House press event.”

“It has more than tripled its spending on enforcement from 2022 to 2024, including a 50% increase in the number of full-time enforcement attorneys on staff. This is on top of a budget of $9.7 million for employee travel and transportation in 2024, up from $900k in 2022. This spending spree is similar to the IRS’ increasingly aggressive, intrusive surveillance of ordinary taxpayers under the Biden-Harris Administration.”

“Take, for instance, the CFPB’s 1071 small business lending rule, a far-reaching regulation that imposes significant costs to our smallest community banks. This unnecessary regulatory expansion undermines the relationship banking model of small financial institutions, while allowing the CFPB to collect, store, and create a public registry of personal data on business owners and consumers in our communities.”

“. . . it’s apparent that Senator Shelby’s warnings about this powerful bureaucracy were not posturing. They represented a legitimate concern that has only proven true over time – and in an accelerated fashion over the last few years, under the current Administration, and it’s our Main Street communities, small businesses, and hardworking families who are paying the price.”

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