Today, U.S. Senators Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), and Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) introduced a bill to severely weaken the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) by dismantling the structure of its leadership. The bill, Consumer Financial Protection Board Act, would turn the CFPB’s leadership into a five member commission where it would be vulnerable to partisan gridlock and halt the progress of making consumer protection a top priority.

Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) Policy Counsel Yana Miles released the following statement:

This bill underscores how disconnected Senators Fischer, Barasso, Johnson, and Flake are from hardworking families across the country. People need a strong consumer protection agency to look after their interests, especially in states like Nebraska, Wyoming, Wisconsin, and Arizona where predatory payday and car-title lenders deliberately put people in an endless cycle of debt. This attempt to weaken the CFPB by dismantling its leadership structure will lead to never-ending partisan gridlock and revert us back to lax financial regulation that led us to the 2008 economic crisis. The CFPB has returned nearly $12 billion to more than 27 million people who’ve been harmed by the financial sector. The Bureau has already been hard a work against abusive financial practices by ITT Tech, Wells Fargo, car-title and payday lenders, big banks, and others that deceive their customers. Any efforts to halt CFPB's progress would reduce its effectiveness and harm hardworking people.

For more information, or to arrange an interview with a CRL spokesperson on this issue, please contact Ricardo Quinto at ricado.quinto@responsiblelending.org.

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