Dem
47
GOP
53
The banks have always hated the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau because it polices them and can issue financial regulations making it harder for them to fleece customers. It can also enforce consumer financial laws. Many Republicans take donations from banks and thus also hate the CFPB. They would love for it to disappear. They now have an idea how to go about it under the radar.
When the agency was created, the sponsors did not want it to be funded by an annual appropriation from Congress, for fear that a hostile Republican-controlled Congress might decide not to fund it one fine year. Instead, the bureau was allowed to draw funds directly from the Fed, up to a maximum of 12% of the Fed's operating budget. The Senate Banking Committee, led by Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), has now thought of a workaround. The Committee's contribution to the reconciliation bill now being cooked up would simply change the "12" in the law to "0." So then the CFPB could draw up to 0% of the Fed's budget. Since most of its funding comes from the Fed, that would effectively terminate the Bureau. The House took a stab at that as well, but the bill it passed simply changed the 12% to 5%, which would still allow the bureau to function somewhat.
But all is not lost for the CFPB. Reconciliation bills may only contain elements that increase or decrease federal spending or revenues, and the CFPB is not funded through the budget. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), whose idea the Bureau was, has said if that provision is included in the final bill, she will ask the Senate Parliamentarian to make a ruling whether it is allowed in a reconciliation bill. If the Parliamentarian rules that it is not, it will have to be struck, as John Thune has said he will not take a vote to overrule the Parliamentarian. (V)