by Jeff Sovern
Yesterday, the House passed an appropriations bill that incorporates provisions from the Financial Choice Act that would cripple the CFPB. According to Law360:
The base bill would make a number of changes to the CFPB, including bringing it under the purview of the normal appropriations process. In addition, the bill would remove the bureau’s ability to target “Unfair, Deceptive, or Abusive Acts and Practices” under the law, and remove its ability to initiate rulemakings on small dollar loans.
Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., offered an amendment to try and reinstate the agency’s authority over such “debt traps,” but was unsuccessful. Ellison also offered amendments on the agency’s authority over manufactured home loans and other rules, but they were defeated.
We had written about the bill at an earlier stage of the process here. While the House-passed Financial Choice Act seems unlikely to receive much, if any, consideration in the Senate, appropriations bills are another story. By including anti-consumer in the must-pass appropriations bill, members of the House increase the chances that some of those provisions are enacted into law.
