House Republicans Question CFPB Spending Practices

During a House Financial Services subcommittee hearing, Republicans accused the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau of overspending, saying too much money is spent on top officials' salaries, travel and planned office renovations.
 
The CFPB "is paying employees more than almost any other federal agency," said Rep. Ann Wagner, R-Mo. during the hearing. "Why should Congress allow the agency to continue paying high salaries, especially when Americans are out of work?"
 
Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., the chairman of the subcommittee, noted that in May the Office of Management and Budget issued a warning about how much certain agencies, other than the CFPB, had spent on conferences. McHenry said the warning did not apply to the bureau since Dodd-Frank exempted the CFPB from following OMB mandates.
 
"Based on Dodd-Frank the bureau can simply ignore this controller alert. As a result of this lack of accountability, certain expenditures have been called into question," said McHenry.
 
During Tuesday's hearing, Rep. Scott Garrett, R-N.J., said that Congress needs more control over the bureau's budget. "The takeaway so far is that we have an agency that lacks oversight and lacks accountability," he said.
 
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