A quartet of House members — two Democrats and two Republicans — yesterday introduced a bill that would rename and reshape the leadership structure of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
H.R. 5266 would amend the Consumer Financial Protection Act to rename the CFPB the Financial Product Safety Commission and change the leadership structure from a single executive director to a five-person commission, similar to how the Federal Trade Commission and Federal Communications Commission are operated.
The bill has been referred to the House Financial Services Committee.
The bill was authored by Rep. Dennis Ross [R-Fla.], Rep. Kyrsten Sinema [D-Ariz.], Rep. Ann Wagner [R-Mo.] and Rep. David Scott [D-Ga.]. All four are members of the House Financial Services Committee.
A published report said the bill would “easily” pass in the House, but would likely stall in the Senate because Democrats have vowed to filibuster any changes to the CFPB.
The leadership structure of the CFPB has been a hot-button issue in Congress since the agency was created more than five years ago. A number of attempts have been made to reduce the amount of power held by the agency’s executive director. Rep Jeb Hensarling [R-Texas], the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, attempted to have a five-person commission replace the executive director with his Financial CHOICE Act, but that provision was ultimately stripped from the version of the bill that passed the House of Representatives.
A handful of banking industry trade groups issued statements in support of the bill upon its release yesterday.
