For at least the fourth time in the past four years, Sen. John Kennedy [R-La.] has sponsored or attached himself to a bill aimed at reining in the compensation practices at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Earlier this week, Sen. Kennedy, a member of the Senate Banking Committee, introduced S. 1923, The CFPB Pay Fairness Act of 2025, which would require the Bureau to align its employee salaries with the General Schedule pay scale used across the federal government.
The move marks another front in a growing Republican effort to impose more oversight and fiscal discipline on the CFPB, which critics argue operates with too much independence and too little accountability.
“The CFPB’s convoluted funding scheme gives them an unfair pay advantage over other agencies,” Sen. Kennedy said in a statement. “That’s a waste of taxpayer money, and it needs to stop.”
Unlike most federal agencies, the CFPB is not subject to the annual appropriations process. Instead, it receives funding directly from the Federal Reserve — a structure recently upheld by the Supreme Court but still under intense scrutiny from lawmakers who view it as a loophole for avoiding congressional oversight. As a result, many CFPB employees receive compensation levels more commonly associated with members of Congress or cabinet secretaries.
Kennedy’s bill would amend Section 1013(a)(2) of the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 to mandate that all Bureau employees be paid in accordance with the General Schedule pay system. The bill provides a 90-day compliance window following enactment.
The previous attempts at overhauling the CFPB’s compensation structure have not made significant progress toward becoming law.
