3 Opinions on the Direction of the CFPB
We write a lot about the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on this blog: its exams, its operational focus, its love-hate relationship with the Executive Branch… But these topics may soon be irrelevant. As a relatively young and politically divisive regulatory agency, the CFPB could, in the near future, evolve into something entirely different than how it exists now.
Is the CFPB gaining or losing authority—coming or going?
We found three articles that provide some clues into the possible future of the CFPB. What can we infer from the White House’s most recent budget proposal from? What do the American people want from the CFPB? Who stands to gain and lose from the possible end of CFPB?
Read on to find out:
Buried in Trump’s Budget: A New Attempt to Kill a Powerful Consumer Watchdog
We haven’t heard much from the White House lately about the CFPB—let’s just say there have been bigger fish to fry—but at the end of May, the President’s proposed budget came out. Writing for Money Magazine, Megan Leonhardt dug in and found the amount struck from the budget for the CFPB is almost the same amount needed to run it. Does this mean the CFPB is toast? Read more here to learn what conclusions Leonhardt came to.
58 % of Voters in 8 Key States want CFPB Run by Commission
While we’re waiting to see whether the CFPB will continue to have funding (see the article above) voters are wasting no time airing their thoughts about the role and structure of the CFPB. The majority of voters polled within key battleground states have stated that they believe the CFPB should be run by a bipartisan panel rather than the single director with unchecked power. SubPrime Auto Finance News has broken down the vote—check out which states lean which way.
Read the article:
Another Court Case Puts the CFPB in Danger
In theory, restructuring—as mentioned above—would help the CFPB in cases such as this one: A mortgage is trying to get their violations thrown out by claiming the CFPB’s structure is unconstitutional by arguing, once again, that the agency’s lone director wields too much power. But what about the downsides of change? Market Watch’s Maria Lamagna describes who might get hurt if the CFPB was no more.
