May 23, 2011
Elizabeth Warren will write off concerns regarding the broad regulatory authority of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau as “overblown” and “false claims” when she testifies before the House Oversight Committee on Tuesday, according to The Hill.
“I have been told that if you say anything in Washington often enough, it is eventually treated as fact – regardless of whether it is true or false,” according to her prepared testimony released Monday. “While making baseless claims might be shrewd tactics for those who want to undermine the bureau’s work, they are flatly wrong.”
Her testimony comes shortly after the House passed three bills from GOP lawmakers that seek to alter the structure of the CFPB. One notable change sought would be that the governance of the CFPB would be placed in the hands of a bipartisan panel instead of a sole director. Another would put the agency’s budget under the control of congressional appropriators.
Warren’s prepared testimony reveals she will argue that the CFPB”s authority is “carefully limited” and that attempts to alter the CFPB “undermine the consumer agency before it even begins its work of protecting American families.”
“She will note that ‘huge sectors’ of consumer finance fall outside its reach, and instead are left to state and local regulators,” reports The Hill. “In addition, she will list a number of other ways the CFPB’s power is brought in check, including annual audits by the Government Accountability Office and biannual testimony before Congress on the CFPB’s work and its budget. And beyond those ‘formal restraints,’ Warren will caution that “informal restraint” from Wall Street will also prevent the CFPB from having excessive power.”
“The financial services industry has substantial resources to ensure that its views about the CFPB and its work are well known and fully considered,” she will assert, according to the testimony.
Click here to preview more of Warren’s testimony.
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