A group of Republican senators, including Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Michael Lee (R-Utah), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), and Rand Paul (R-Ky.), introduced a bill designed to eliminate the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).
The Senate bill’s counterpart in the House was introduced by Reps. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.), Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.), Ralph Norman (R-S.C.), and Rich McCormick (R-Ga.).
“The CFPB is an utter and complete waste of government spending and should be eliminated,” Cruz said. “It is entirely ineffective and does very little to protect consumers. The only purpose of this sham, Obama-mandated organization is to stifle economic growth by enforcing burdensome, unnecessary economic regulations…. Ending the CFPB will spur economic growth at a time when Texans and Americans sorely need it.”
The bill, which is only nine lines long – including its two section titles – would fully repeal the Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA) of 2010 which created the consumer financial services watchdog agency. It would also revert any legislation that had been altered by the passage of the CFPA back to its pre-2010 state, unless it had been subsequently altered by other legislation.
“Look no further than the CFPB for the epitome of the Washington Swamp: an unconstitutional, unaccountable, and overreaching government agency with no Congressional oversight,” Donalds said. “In addition to the drain of federal resources, the CFPB hinders economic prosperity by imposing burdensome and unnecessary regulations on American consumers. It’s high time to eliminate the CFPB once and for all and ease the overarching financial restraints established by Dodd-Frank that permitted unfettered power to unelected activists and the obstruction of fiscal ingenuity and growth.”
With a Democrat controlled Senate, Cruz’s legislation is almost certain to never see discussion.