FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

April 26, 2023 

CONTACTS:
Americans for Financial Reform: William Pierre-Louis, Jr., william@ourfinancialsecurity.org; Center for Responsible Lending: Matthew Kravitz, Matthew.Kravitz@responsiblelending.org; Consumer Federation of America: Rachel Gittleman, rgittleman@consumerfed.org 

Broad Coalition Urges House Panel to Reject Bill that Defangs Consumer Watchdog

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Starting today at 10 AM ET, the U.S. House Committee on Financial Services will hold a markup and vote on several pieces of legislation, including a wide-ranging bill that would undermine the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and support predatory lenders. A diverse coalition of over 70 organizations wrote a letter to Members of the Committee, urging them to vote against this anti-consumer bill.

“For this mark-up to be noted as anything other than an attempt to eviscerate the CFPB is absurd,” said Elyse Hicks, consumer policy counsel at Americans for Financial Reform. “This package of bills has nothing to do with making the CFPB accountable and transparent to Congress, rather it is a full attack to gut the CFPB of any power to protect consumers.”

“We need the CFPB to continue as an effective consumer watchdog with independent funding, so that financial industry lobbyists cannot use their influence over the annual congressional appropriations process to incapacitate regulators and evade oversight – as they did in the leadup to the Great Recession,” said Mitria Spotser, vice president and federal policy director at the Center for Responsible Lending. “This bill would result in a CFPB that is mired in gridlock and unable to protect consumers from predatory financial practices. This bill should be swiftly rejected.”

“Since its creation the CFPB has effectively executed its mandate of protecting consumers and holding financial companies accountable,” said Rachel Gittleman, financial services outreach manager at the Consumer Federation of America. “We urge all members to promptly reject this legislation and any other effort to weaken the CFPB’s ability to protect consumers, as well as its oversight and regulation of our broader financial system.”

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