RSSIn a May 2, 2012 letter to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, members of the House Financial Services Committee say that the “CFPB has been wholly unresponsive to our requests for additional budget information.”
To that end, the House committee requested several pieces of information from the Bureau: a financial operating plan and forecast; a more detailed FY2013 budget justification; written performance measures and a plan for determining employment needs; more information on transfer requests from the Federal Reserve; and a detailed budget to account for $55 million allocated for “land and structures.”
The CFPB receives funding directly from the Fed and will receive $547 million this year.
Last month the Republican-led committee, as part of a GOP budget package under Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), proposed bringing the CFPB budget back under Congress’ control. The Republicans proposed cutting the budget to $200 million and making it subject to the appropriations process.
Harvard professor and Congressional candidate Elizabeth Warren – considered the founder of the CFPB – criticized House Republicans’ efforts. She argues that funding must remain independent to prevent political coercion.
“The House Republicans are engaged in a backdoor attempt to weaken consumer protection and water down oversight,” Warren said. “If Congress really cares about middle class families — and the health of our entire economy — it must ensure there is real accountability for Wall Street.”
