In case you haven’t notice, this is an election year. Even the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), as it celebrates its five-year anniversary on July 21, has not been exempt from all the rhetoric, campaign promises and legislative proposals coming from all sides of the political aisle.
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the Democratic candidate, has called for preserving the CFPB, while Republican candidate Donald Trump has promised to repeal the Dodd-Frank Act altogether. Meanwhile, members of Congress have kept themselves busy as well.
House Financial Services Committee Chairman Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) introduced the Financial CHOICE Act, which would change the CFPB to a five-member commission funded through Congress’s appropriations process, among other things. The bill also would give the CFPB a dual mandate of protecting consumers and creating competitive markets and would require the CFPB’s rulemaking process to include a cost-benefit analysis performed by the Office of Economic Analysis.
Rather than try to predict the outcome of the 2016 presidential election, or which bills will get through the brick wall that is Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), let’s look at what the CFPB and its major players have done in recent months.
For the rest of this story, and all the additional content and insight available in our 16-page 2016 CFPB Anniversary special report, download your free copy of the report here.