Federal

CFPB–IG Reform Act of 2023

Source: Congress.gov · 1,102 words in original text

What This Bill Does

This bill requires the President to appoint an Inspector General (a federal official who oversees agency operations) for the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection. The Senate must confirm this appointment. The bill also changes how the Inspector General operates and gets funded.

Who It Affects

The Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection, the President, the Senate, Congress committees focused on banking and financial services, and the federal Inspector General system.

Key Provisions

• The President must appoint an Inspector General for the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection within 60 days of the bill becoming law, and the Senate must confirm the appointment (Sec. 3(e)) • The Inspector General must appear before Congress twice per year for hearings about their reports, separate from other scheduled appearances (Sec. 3(b)) • The Bureau must dedicate 2 percent of its annual transferred funds to the Office of the Inspector General (Sec. 3(c)) • The Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection joins the Council of Inspectors General on Financial Oversight, a group that coordinates oversight across financial agencies (Sec. 3(d))

What Changes

The Inspector General of the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection becomes a Senate-confirmed position instead of being appointed by the Federal Reserve Board. The Inspector General gains the authority and responsibilities to oversee the Bureau independently. Congress gets scheduled opportunities to question the Inspector General twice yearly about agency operations.

Important Definitions

Inspector General: A federal official who investigates agency activities and reports problems to Congress and agency leadership.

Effective Date

The bill's changes take effect on the date when the first Inspector General of the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection is confirmed by the Senate (Sec. 4(a)).

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1411 To require Senate confirmation of Inspector General of the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 7, 2023 Mr. LUETKEMEYER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Accountability, and in addition to the Com- mittee on Financial Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To require Senate confirmation of Inspector General of the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Bureau of Consumer 4 Financial Protection-Inspector General Reform Act of 5 2023’’ or the ‘‘CFPB–IG Reform Act of 2023’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:14 Mar 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1411.IH H1411 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1411 IH SEC. 2. APPOINTMENT OF INSPECTOR GENERAL. 1 Chapter 4 of title 5, United States Code, is amend- 2 ed— 3 (1) in section 401— 4 (A) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘the 5 Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection,’’ 6 after ‘‘the Export-Import Bank of the United 7 States,’’; and 8 (B) in paragraph (3), by inserting ‘‘the Di- 9 rector of the Bureau of Consumer Financial 10 Protection;’’ after ‘‘the President of the Export- 11 Import Bank of the United States;’’; and 12 (2) in section 415— 13 (A) in subsection (a)(1), by striking ‘‘and 14 the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection’’; 15 (B) in subsection (c), by striking ‘‘For 16 purposes of implementing this section, the 17 Chairman of the Board of Governors of the 18 Federal Reserve System shall appoint the In- 19 spector General of the Board of Governors of 20 the Federal Reserve System and the Bureau of 21 Consumer Financial Protection. The Inspector 22 General of the Board of Governors of the Fed- 23 eral Reserve System and the Bureau of Con- 24 sumer Financial Protection shall have all of the 25 authorities and responsibilities provided by this 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:14 Mar 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1411.IH H1411 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1411 IH Act with respect to the Bureau of Consumer Fi- 1 nancial Protection, as if the Bureau were part 2 of the Board of Governors of the Federal Re- 3 serve System.’’; and 4 (C) in subsection (g)(3), by striking ‘‘and 5 the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection’’. 6 SEC. 3. REQUIREMENTS FOR THE INSPECTOR GENERAL 7 FOR THE BUREAU OF CONSUMER FINANCIAL 8 PROTECTION. 9 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Section 1011 of the Dodd- 10 Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act 11 (12 U.S.C. 5491) is amended— 12 (1) in subsection (b)— 13 (A) in the subsection heading, by striking 14 ‘‘AND DEPUTY DIRECTOR’’ and inserting ‘‘, 15 DEPUTY DIRECTOR, AND INSPECTOR GEN- 16 ERAL’’; and 17 (B) by inserting after paragraph (5) the 18 following: 19 ‘‘(6) INSPECTOR GENERAL.—There is estab- 20 lished the position of the Inspector General.’’; and 21 (2) in subsection (d), by striking ‘‘or Deputy 22 Director’’ each place it appears and inserting ‘‘, 23 Deputy Director, or Inspector General’’. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:14 Mar 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1411.IH H1411 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 1411 IH (b) HEARINGS.—Section 1016 of such Act is amend- 1 ed by inserting after subsection (c) the following: 2 ‘‘(d) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENT FOR INSPECTOR 3 GENERAL.—On a separate occasion from that described 4 in subsection (a), the Inspector General of the Bureau 5 shall appear, upon invitation, before the Committee on 6 Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate and 7 the Committee on Financial Services and the Committee 8 on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives 9 at semiannual hearings regarding the reports required 10 under subsection (b) and the reports required under sec- 11 tion 405 of title 5, United States Code.’’. 12 (c) FUNDING FOR OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GEN- 13 ERAL.—Section 1017(a)(2) of such Act is amended— 14 (1) by redesignating subparagraph (C) as sub- 15 paragraph (D); and 16 (2) by inserting after subparagraph (B) the fol- 17 lowing: 18 ‘‘(C) FUNDING FOR OFFICE OF INSPECTOR 19 GENERAL.—Each fiscal year, the Bureau shall 20 dedicate 2 percent of the funds transferred pur- 21 suant to paragraph (1) to the Office of the In- 22 spector General.’’. 23 (d) PARTICIPATION IN THE COUNCIL OF INSPECTORS 24 GENERAL ON FINANCIAL OVERSIGHT.—Section 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:14 Mar 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1411.IH H1411 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 1411 IH 989E(a)(1) of such Act is amended by adding at the end 1 the following: 2 ‘‘(J) The Bureau of Consumer Financial 3 Protection.’’. 4 (e) DEADLINE FOR APPOINTMENT.—Not later than 5 60 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 6 President shall appoint an Inspector General for the Bu- 7 reau of Consumer Financial Protection in accordance with 8 section 403 of title 5, United States Code. 9 SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE. 10 (a) IN GENERAL.—The amendments made by this 11 Act shall take effect on the date on which the first Inspec- 12 tor General of the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protec- 13 tion is confirmed by the Senate. 14 (b) APPOINTMENT.—The President may appoint, and 15 the Senate may confirm, an Inspector General of the Bu- 16 reau of Consumer Financial Protection before the amend- 17 ments made by this Act take effect. 18 (c) TRANSITION.—The Inspector General of the 19 Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and 20 the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection shall, upon 21 the date on which the first Inspector General of the Bu- 22 reau of Consumer Financial Protection is confirmed by the 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:14 Mar 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1411.IH H1411 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 1411 IH Senate, become the Inspector General of the Board of 1 Governors of the Federal Reserve System. 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:14 Mar 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1411.IH H1411 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS

Important: This plain English summary was generated by AI and is provided for informational purposes only. It is not legal advice. Always consult the official bill text on Congress.gov or a qualified attorney for legal matters.