Senator Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) is demanding restoration of funds to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to help stop scammers.
Part of the "Big Beautiful Bill" that was signed into law earlier in July is cutting funding to the CFPB by half, which Senator Tim Scott (R-SC) praised as forcing the Bureau to be held more accountable and fiscally responsible.
"For the first time since the passage of Dodd-Frank, Congress is reining in the unaccountable Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and decreasing its mandatory funding cap by 46%, which will save over $2 billion and require the Bureau to be fiscally responsible," said Sen. Scott.
According to Sen. Gallego, however, "The Republican tax bill was a gift to ultra-wealthy corporations at the expense of working families. By slashing CFBP funding, it gave scammers and shady businesses a free pass to rip people off. This bill restores the CFPB's funding and makes sure it has the tools to keep protecting consumers from fraud, scams, and abusive business practices."
In addition to restoring funds, the Stop Scammers Act encourages whistleblowers to speak up about wrongdoing with monetary rewards taken from the Civil Penalty Fund, which is collected from fines paid by companies found in violation of consumer protection laws.
Moreover, the whistleblowers retain independent counsel and are under anonymity protections.
On the other hand, Representative Byron Donalds (R-FL) of Florida has suggested that the CFPB, which lacks Congressional oversight, has become politicized, saying, "From its inception in Dodd-Frank, the CFPB has served as a left-wing tool to stifle domestic economic growth, target political opponents, and prevent the development of competition."
"Constructed outside of Congressional oversight and funded directly by the Federal Reserve, the CFPB is the very definition of the corrupt, unelected bureaucracy that has so greatly damaged our nation," Rep. Donalds continued, saying this was why he introduced a bill in February to abolish the organization altogether.
