The Obama administration late Wednesday said it would veto House legislation aimed at restructuring the brand new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).
On Thursday — the CFPB’s first full day of operation — Republicans were targeting the new agency by voting on H.R. 1315, which would convert the new bureau into a five-member commission.
In its veto threat, the White House says the restructuring bill, sponsored by Rep. Sean Duffy, R-Wisc., would “seriously weaken the Bureau’s decision making power” and make it easier for the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) to overturn CFPB rules. The FSOC is comprised of other financial regulators.
The CFPB was created by passage of the Dodd-Frank Act. The way things stand now a single director heads the bureau. Earlier in the week the White House nominated former Ohio attorney general Richard Cordray to be that director. Cordray currently serves as chief of enforcement at the CFPB.
The Mortgage Bankers Association, American Bankers Association and other industry groups favor efforts to restructure the CFPB, making it more accountable to Congress.
In the Senate, a similar CFPB bill was introduced by Sen. Jerry Moran, a Republican from Kansas. Moran warned that Cordray’s nomination is “dead on arrival” unless the President agrees to restructure the CFPB.
