WASHINGTON — House lawmakers are preparing to take up a sweeping overhaul of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau next week that would significantly change how the agency is funded, supervised and permitted to regulate banks, credit unions and other financial services companies.
The House Financial Services Committee has scheduled a full-committee markup for 10 a.m. Sept. 16, when lawmakers are expected to consider the Consumer Financial Protection Accountability and Reform Act of 2026, H.R. 10184.
The committee’s public calendar currently describes the Sept. 16 meeting as a “Markup of Various Measures” but has not yet posted the final list of legislation to be considered.
The markup represents the next major step for a CFPB reform package unveiled Sept. 1 by House Financial Services Committee Chairman French Hill (R-AR), Financial Institutions Subcommittee Chairman Andy Barr (R-KY), and nearly all Republicans on the committee.
Barr is the lead sponsor of H.R. 10184, with Hill and 28 other Republicans listed as original co-sponsors.
“”The legislation has a lot in it that’s positive for credit unions, and if it becomes law I think it will make it much easier in the future to work with CFPB,” said John McKechnie, a veteran credit union advocate on Capitol Hill. “With so few legislative days remaining on the 2026 calendar, I’m not confident that it will pass, but I applaud the effort.”
Would Make for Significant Changes
The legislation would make some of the most significant statutory changes to the CFPB since the agency was created under the Dodd-Frank Act following the 2008 financial crisis.
Of particular importance to credit unions, the legislation would raise the asset threshold for direct CFPB supervision of banks, savings associations and credit unions from $10 billion to $30 billion.
The bill also would allow covered depository institutions to elect to have their prudential regulator conduct certain consumer compliance examinations rather than the CFPB.
For credit unions, that could mean shifting supervisory responsibility back to the National Credit Union Administration for institutions that otherwise fall under the CFPB’s jurisdiction.
Additional Provisions
Other provisions in the legislation would:
- Put the CFPB under the regular congressional appropriations process rather than allowing it to receive funding through the Federal Reserve.
- Establish a dedicated inspector general for the bureau.
- Require additional cost-benefit analysis and consideration of effects on small businesses during rulemaking.
- Require periodic reviews of major CFPB regulations.
- Direct the bureau to more clearly define what constitutes an “abusive” act or practice.
- Create a safe harbor from CFPB enforcement for certain small-dollar credit products.
- Make changes intended to distinguish nonbinding agency guidance from enforceable law.
- Modify the bureau’s civil money penalty authority.
- Change aspects of CFPB supervision of nonbanks.
- Require greater coordination among federal financial regulators.
The House Financial Services Committee said when unveiling the legislation that the package is intended to create clearer rules, increase accountability and establish a more predictable, risk-based approach to supervision.
Bill Follows Months of CFPB Debate
As the CU Daily has been reporting, the legislation follows months of debate in Congress over the future of the CFPB and the Trump administration’s efforts to sharply reduce the agency’s operations.
Acting CFPB Director Russell Vought told the House Financial Services Committee in July that he believes the bureau remains “structurally defective” and endorsed putting the agency under congressional appropriations.
Reuters reported following Vought’s July appearance that the acting director defended the administration’s efforts to shrink the CFPB while Democrats accused the administration of undermining an agency Congress created to protect consumers.
Discussion Draft Released
Committee Republicans subsequently released a discussion draft of their CFPB reform proposal and sought public comments before introducing H.R. 10184. If enacted, the final legislation would change CFPB funding and its authority over unfair, deceptive or abusive acts or practices, in addition to raising the supervisory threshold to $30 billion.
The Sept. 16 markup could result in amendments to the legislation before committee members vote on whether to advance it.
Even if approved by the Republican-controlled committee, the measure would still need to clear the full House and Senate before reaching President Donald Trump.
The House Financial Services Committee has not yet posted the complete legislative agenda for the Sept. 16 markup.
