Republicans Introduce Bill to Abolish the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (with Lofchie Comment)

On the fourth anniversary of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Representative John Ratcliffe (R-TX) introduced legislation to eliminate it in order to "stop this runaway agency."

Senator Cruz and Representative Ratcliffe called for their legislation to be passed in order to "give Congress the opportunity to free consumers and small businesses from the CFPB's regulatory blockades and financial activism, which stunt financial growth." They also denounced the CFPB as "one of the least accountable regulatory agencies in the Federal Government" due to its receipt of "more than $600 million annually from the budget of the Federal Reserve System," which remains outside of the control of Congress.

Senator Cruz concluded with this assertion: "While there's much more to do to scale back the harmful regulatory impositions of Dodd-Frank, this legislation takes a critical step in the right direction. So today let's celebrate the CFPB's fourth and final anniversary."

Lofchie Comment: There is no realistic chance that the CFPB could be abolished. It would never survive a Presidential veto. It is reasonable to suggest, however, that the law be amended to provide that the CFPB be funded by the same process used to fund other regulatory agencies, such as the SEC and the CFTC.

See: "To Eliminate the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection by Repealing Title X of the Dodd-Frank Act" (H.R. 3118); Representative Ratcliffe's Press Release.