Senate parliamentarian deals blow to GOP plan to gut consumer bureau in
tax bill
[June 21, 2025]
By LISA MASCARO
WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans suffered a sizable setback Friday on one
key aspect of President Donald Trump's big bill after their plans to gut
the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and other provisions from the
Senate Banking Committee ran into procedural violations with the Senate
parliamentarian.
Republicans in the Senate proposed zeroing-out funding for the CFPB, the
landmark agency set up in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, to
save $6.4 billion. The bureau had been designed as a way to better
protect Americans from financial fraud, but has been opposed by many GOP
lawmakers since its inception. The Trump administration has targeted the
CFPB as an example of government over-regulation and overreach.
The findings by the Senate parliamentarian’s office, which is working
overtime scrubbing Trump’s overall bill to ensure it aligns with the
chamber’s strict “Byrd Rule” processes, signal a tough road ahead. The
most daunting questions are still to come, as GOP leadership rushes to
muscle Trump's signature package to floor for votes by his Fourth of
July deadline.
Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., the chairman of the Banking Committee that
drafted the provisions in question, said in a statement, “My colleagues
and I remain committed to cutting wasteful spending at the CFPB and will
continue working with the Senate parliamentarian on the Committee’s
provisions.”
For Democrats, who have been fighting Trump's 1,000-page package at
every step, the parliamentarian's advisory amounted to a significant
win.
“Democrats fought back, and we will keep fighting back against this ugly
bill,” said Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, the top Democrat on
the Banking Committee, who engineered the creation of the CFPB before
she was elected to Congress.
Warren said that GOP proposals “are a reckless, dangerous attack on
consumers and would lead to more Americans being tricked and trapped by
giant financial institutions and put the stability of our entire
financial system at risk–all to hand out tax breaks to billionaires.”
The parliamentarian’s rulings, while advisory, are rarely, if ever
ignored.
With the majority in Congress, Republicans have been drafting a sweeping
package that extends some $4.5 trillion tax cuts Trump approved during
his first term, in 2017, that otherwise expire at the end of the year.
It adds $350 billion to national security, including billions for
Trump's mass deportation agenda. And it slashes some $1 trillion from
Medicaid, food stamps and other government programs.
All told, the package is estimated to add at least $2.4 trillion to the
nation's deficits over the decade, and leave 10.9 million more people
without health care coverage, according to the nonpartisan Congressional
Budget Office's review of the House-passed package, which is now
undergoing revisions in the Senate.
The parliamentarian's office is responsible for determining if the
package adheres to the Byrd Rule, named after the late Sen. Robert Byrd
of West Virginia, who was considered one of the masters of Senate
procedure. The rule essentially bars policy matters from being addressed
in the budget reconciliation process.
[to top of second column]
|
The Capitol is seen in Washington, March 25, 2025. (AP Photo/J.
Scott Applewhite, File)
Senate GOP leaders are using the budget reconciliation process,
which is increasingly how big bills move through the Congress,
because it allows passage on a simple majority vote, rather than
face a filibuster with the higher 60-vote threshold.
But if any of the bill's provisions violate the Byrd Rule, that
means they can be challenged at the tougher 60-vote threshold, which
is a tall order in the 53-47 Senate. Leaders are often forced to
strip those proposals from the package, even though doing so risks
losing support from lawmakers who championed those provisions.
One of the biggest questions ahead for the parliamentarian will be
over the Senate GOP’s proposal to use “current policy” as opposed to
“current law” to determine the baseline budget and whether the
overall package adds significantly to deficits.
Already the Senate parliamentarian’s office has waded through
several proposals in Trump’s big bill, including those from the
Senate Armed Services Committee and Senate Environment and Public
Works Committee.
The Banking panel offered a modest bill, just eight pages, and much
of it was deemed out of compliance.
The parliamentarian found that in addition to gutting the CFPB,
other provisions aimed at rolling back entities put in place after
the 2008 financial crisis would violate the Byrd Rule. Those include
a GOP provision to limit the Financial Research Fund, which was set
up to conduct analysis, saving nearly $300 million; and another to
shift the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, which conducts
oversight of accounting firms, to the Securities and Exchange
Commission and terminate positions, saving $773 million.
The GOP plan to change the pay schedule for employees at the Federal
Reserve, saving $1.4 billion, was also determined to be in violation
of the Byrd Rule.
The parliamentarian’s office also raised Byrd Rule violations over
GOP proposals to repeal certain aspects of the Inflation Reduction
Act, and one from the Environment and Public Works Committee to
repeal emission standards for some model year 2027 light-duty and
medium-duty vehicles.
A provision from the Senate Armed Services Committee that would have
required the Defense Secretary to provide a plan detailing how the
boost of new funds in the bill would be spent, with quarterly
updates, or risk reductions of $100,000 a day, was also deemed by
the parliamentarian to be in violation of the rule.
__
Associated Press writer Mary Clare Jalonick contributed to this
report.
All contents © copyright 2025 Associated Press. All rights reserved |
