Trump Budget Seeks More Accountability for Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

President Trump’s 2019 budget plan, released today, has some big changes in mind for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), aiming to bring much-needed accountability and oversight to the Bureau. Competitive Enterprise Institute Senior Fellow John Berlau praises the reforms:

President Trump’s budget rightly recognizes that the CFPB has not only limited options for consumers and devastated Main Street banks, credit unions and entrepreneurs, it has also been a huge drain on taxpayers. The hundreds of millions of dollars it received from the Federal Reserve for its operations would otherwise be sent by the Federal Reserve to the Treasury Department to reduce taxpayers’ burden. Because of this clear impact on the budget, Congress should defund the CFPB through the budget reconciliation process, which only requires a simple majority vote. Then, Congress can debate whether to put the CFPB under the regular appropriations process or give its core consumer protection functions to other agencies and departments. Both options would restore needed accountability.

See also: The Case against the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau