U.S. Senator Katie Britt authored an op-ed published in the American Banker on Tuesday warning of the growing politicization and regulatory overreach of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). In her feature, Britt called on Congress to limit the agency’s excesses and ensure it adheres to strict governmental oversight.
According to Britt, the organization currently has no real accountability to the American people.
“Today, the CFPB acts as a direct extension of the Biden Administration’s partisan agenda—using regulations to further leftwing policies and ideas to the detriment of consumers,” wrote Britt (R-Montgomery). “There are countless examples, including the White House’s flawed campaign to “eliminate junk fees, which the President announced while on stage with CFPB Director Chopra, or when Vice President Harris unveiled the CFPB’s own rule on medical debt at a White House press event.”
The Senator emphasized the agency’s rapid, unchecked expansion in staff and funding.
“It has more than tripled its spending on enforcement from 2022 to 2024, including a 50% increase in the number of full-time enforcement attorneys on staff. This is on top of a budget of $9.7 million for employee travel and transportation in 2024, up from $900k in 2022. This spending spree is similar to the IRS’ increasingly aggressive, intrusive surveillance of ordinary taxpayers under the Biden-Harris Administration.”
“Take, for instance, the CFPB’s 1071 small business lending rule, a far-reaching regulation that imposes significant costs to our smallest community banks,” Britt explained. “This unnecessary regulatory expansion undermines the relationship banking model of small financial institutions while allowing the CFPB to collect, store, and create a public registry of personal data on business owners and consumers in our communities.”
Britt noted that her predecessor, U.S. Senator Richard Shelby, had previously warned of the growing bureaucracy at the Bureau.
“They represented a legitimate concern that has only proven true over time – and in an accelerated fashion over the last few years, under the current Administration, and it’s our Main Street communities, small businesses, and hardworking families who are paying the price.”
Austen Shipley is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on X @ShipleyAusten
