Rep. Andy Barr Says Bills Would Create ‘Transparent, Law-Abiding CFPB’

Rep. Andy Barr, R-Ky., said Wednesday (March 26) that three bills he introduced will bring reforms to areas in which the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has “abused its power and threatened — not helped — consumers in the process.”

Barr, who is chair of the House Financial Services Commitee’s Financial Institutions Subcommittee, said this in opening remarks prepared for delivery at a subcommittee hearing examining the current regulatory and legal landscape and the structure and funding of the CFPB.

“Republicans have long called for reforms to ensure the Bureau is accountable to the American people,” Barr said in the remarks. “Today, we’ll propose transitioning the CFPB to a bipartisan commission and bringing it under congressional appropriations.”

Barr said that during the previous administration, the CFPB became “the most unchecked and unaccountable agency in the entire federal government.”

He said the CFPB prioritized politics over policy, attacked businesses through press releases and tweets, curtailed businesses’ ability to offer financial services and products, and prioritized regulation by enforcement over administrative law.

Barr said that his three bills would change these practices. The TABS Act would give elected representatives a say in the CFPB’s operations by requiring the regulator to go through the traditional congressional appropriations process; the CID Reform Act would stop the abuse of civil investigative demands (CIDs) by placing guardrails on the CFPB’s use of CIDs; and the Rectifying UDAAP Act would give clear guidance to financial services providers by requiring the CFPB to define Unfair, Deceptive or Abusive Acts or Practices (UDAAP), he said.

“The best consumer protection is consumer choice,” Barr said. “A transparent, law-abiding CFPB will foster an environment that promotes competition and delivers better outcomes for all Americans.”

It was reported March 15 that the CFPB’s consumer response team was summoned back to the office to deal with a backlog of 16,000 complaints after the Trump administration shuttered the regulator’s offices and essentially shut down enforcement activity.

The embattled agency also saw joint resolutions of disapproval in Congress regarding two of its rules — one governing digital payments providers, the other focused on bank overdraft fees. These actions opened up a new front against the CFPB.

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