Republicans on the House Financial Services Committee have made it clear they believe the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is already too big and needs to be cut down to size.
The bureau is projected to spend $356.4 million in the current (2012) fiscal year. The committee voted on party lines this week to reduce CFPB’s budget to $200 million in FY 2013.
The consumer bureau is independently funded though the Federal Reserve Board and entitled to spend up to $597 million in FY 2013 under the Dodd-Frank Act.
The House of Representatives has already passed a bill to end the Fed’s support for the bureau, making it subject to the congressional appropriations process. The Senate has not taken action on that bill. Nevertheless, House Financial Services Committee chairman Spencer Bachus, R-Ala., included a similar provision in his deficit reduction bill.
“In order to bring accountability and oversight to the bureau’s spending, the committee proposal includes the CFPB in the appropriations process,” the committee said.
The CPFB expects to spend at least $200 million in FY 2012 just on supervision, examinations and enforcement. The bureau estimated earlier this year that its supervisory staff will grow to 873 positions in 2013, from 635.
Meanwhile, consumer education and outreach will cost $126 million in FY 2013, up from $84 million in FY 2012.
CFPB’s Office of Research, Markets and Regulations is slated to spend $60.5 million in FY 2013, compared to $57.7 million in the current fiscal year.
