US House panel weighs cuts in consumer, audit oversight

Source: Reuters

April 30, 2025 1:00 PM EDT Updated 3 hours ago


WASHINGTON, April 30 (Reuters) - A U.S. congressional panel is considering legislation on Wednesday that looks to drastically curtail existing government efforts to police consumer financial markets and scrutinize public company accounting. The House Financial Services Committee is weighing draft legislation that would significantly trim the funding received by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and aims to effectively eliminate the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, a watchdog formed in 2002 to improve oversight of auditors amid high-profile accounting scandals, including the collapses of Enron and WorldCom.

The measure is part of a broader effort by Republicans in Congress to carve out a hefty amount of savings as part of their bid to pass a sweeping tax cut bill. Several committees have been charged with finding cuts under their jurisdiction to add to a so-called reconciliation package, which is a streamlined way for Congress to consider tax and spending measures, requiring only majority support in both chambers. The banking panel was charged with finding at least $1 billion in cuts. Spokespeople for the committee and the CFPB did not respond to requests for comment. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission declined to comment.

"For too long, government spending has always been a one-way ticket," Rep. French Hill, the Republican chair of the House Financial Services committee, said on Wednesday as the panel met to discuss the potential cuts. "At every opportunity, Congress has failed to make tough choices to manage our debt and get our fiscal house in order." When the CFPB was created as part of the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial reform law, it received its funding directly from the Federal Reserve, and is capped as a percentage of the Fed's operating expenses. That level currently stands at 12%, allowing the CFPB to request up to $823 million.

The House bill would slash that to 5%, and order any excess or unallocated funds to be handed over to the Treasury. Republicans have long criticized the CFPB as too powerful and lacking oversight, and the Trump administration has attempted to effectively gut it by firing most of its staff. Those efforts have been held off amid court challenges. Rep. Maxine Waters, the highest-ranking Democrat on the committee, called the measure to slash the CFPB's budget "ridiculous." The CFPB "has saved American consumers $21 billion by returning to them funds that big banks and predatory lenders swindle out of them," she said.

Read more: https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/boards-policy-regulation/us-house-panel-weigh-cuts-consumer-audit-oversight-2025-04-30/