U.S. Rep. Andy Barr (R-KY) last week sponsored legislation that would bring the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) into the regular congressional appropriations process, thereby making the bureau’s spending more transparent and accountable.
Rep. Barr introduced the Taking Account of Bureaucrats’ Spending (TABS) Act, H.R. 790, with 21 original Republican cosponsors, including U.S. Reps. Ann Wagner (R-MO), Tom Emmer (R-MN), French Hill (R-AR), and Frank Lucas (R-OK).
“For too long, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has operated unchecked and unaccountable to Congress,” said Rep. Barr, ranking member of the U.S. House Financial Services Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee. “Congressional oversight is essential in preventing the sort of political and regulatory overreaches, as well as excessive spending that were commonplace at the bureau in the Obama administration.”
Currently, the CFPB’s more than $630 million budget is funded by the Federal Reserve, which, at Rep. Barr’s request, investigated the CFPB’s budget request process and published a report that found that there is no meaningful review or oversight of the CFPB’s funding process, according to the congressman’s office.
H.R. 790 has been referred for consideration to the U.S. House Financial Services Committee.