Ranking member of House Subcommittee on Consumer Protection and Financial Institutions Blaine Luetkemeyer again seeks a change in the leadership structure at the bureau.
8/9/2021 8:00
In a letter to U.S. Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer, R-Mo., Aug. 6, ACA International is continuing its support for a change in the leadership structure at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
Luetkemeyer, ranking member of the House Subcommittee on Consumer Protection and Financial Institutions, seeks to replace the single-director leadership structure at the CFPB with a five-member bipartisan commission.
“ACA supports your recently introduced legislation to replace the single director position at the CFPB with a bipartisan commission,” CEO Mark Neeb said in the letter. “The regulatory certainty that stems from a commission rather than a single director benefits the entire financial services marketplace and consumers.”
ACA has advocated for similar legislation from the 116th Congress and continues to support installing bipartisan leadership—similar to the Federal Trade Commission and Federal Communications Commission—at the bureau.
“ACA also urges the Senate to introduce similar legislation. ACA members would benefit from certainty about the bureau’s leadership through implementing a bipartisan commission,” Neeb said. “This certainty would also provide more clarity about the CFPB’s priorities, including more precise timelines for rulemaking efforts and a better understanding of compliance expectations.”
Luetkemeyer’s legislation is cosigned by every Republican member of the House Financial Services Committee.
“The bureau is constantly being used as a political football due to the almost limitless power of its director. Allowing one person to wield such unchecked authority over our economy is irresponsible and verges on negligence, which is precisely why many financial regulators are governed by a commission,” said Luetkemeyer said in a news release. “The CFPB is currently being overseen by a single acting director who continues to make major, partisan policy decisions as he sees fit. The need for a bipartisan commission has never been clearer.”
“My bill provides increased accountability and transparency so the American people can trust the CFPB to do its job without political motivation,” he said.
The full text of the bill is available here.