WASHINGTON, D.C. – Yesterday, Congressman Blaine Luetkemeyer (MO-03), introduced three bills to bring much needed reform to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).

“The CFPB is our country’s most economically dangerous government agency. It’s led by a sole director who, as we’ve seen especially with Director Chopra, wields an enormous amount of unchecked power. My bills would rein in that power by establishing an independent Inspector General at the Bureau, replacing the director with a bipartisan commission, and removing the director from the FDIC Board,” said Luetkemeyer. 

“While these would be noticeable changes to the director’s power, they would put the Bureau in line with other financial regulators. Further, they will eliminate the ability to use the Bureau as a tool to carry out political vendettas and prevent massive policy swings with each Administration.”  

Legislation:

1.      Consumer Financial Protection Commission Act
Congressman Luetkemeyer’s bill to establish a bipartisan, five-person commission would put an end to the CFPB’s capacity to be used as a political football, which is currently possible with the limitless power of its sole director.

2.      FDIC Board Accountability Act
This bill would remove the CFPB Director from the FDIC Board of Directors and put term limits in place for FDIC Board of Directors members’ service. As we saw in December 2021 with Director Chopra’s and current FDIC Chairman Martin Gruenberg’s undermining of former Chairwoman Jelena McWilliams, without guardrails in place, some lifelong bureaucrats will do anything to maintain and hang onto power.   

3.      Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection-Inspector General Reform Act of 2023
Currently, there is only one Inspector General office for both the Federal Reserve and the CFPB. Across the federal government, there are 74 statutory IGs, but only 6 inspectors general are affiliated with multiple federal entities, including the CFPB and Federal Reserve. Congressman Luetkemeyer’s bill to establish an independent Inspector General specifically for the CFPB would minimize politically motivated actions and drastically improve transparency at the Bureau.