The Senate parliamentarian ruled on Thursday that the Senate cannot zero out funding to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) in the Big Beautiful Bill.
Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough said that Senate version of the Big Beautiful Bill that zeroes out funding to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) violates the Senate rules dealing with budgetary reconciliation.
The CFPB was the brainchild of progressive Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA).
Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) said he remains “committed to advancing legislation that cuts waste and duplication in our federal government and saves taxpayer dollars.”
“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,” he added.
The parliamentarian also ruled that the Senate version of the Big Beautiful Bill cannot:
- Cut Federal Reserve staff pay by $1.4 billion
- Slash office of Financial Research funding by $293 million
- Cut Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) by $771 million to eliminate the PCAOB and transfer its authority to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
- Repeal authorizations for Inflation Reduction Act programs and rescind funds
- Repeal the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rule that limits air pollution emissions on passenger vehicle models
- Enact the Project Sponsor Opt-In Fees for Environmental Reviews, which allows environmental projects to avoid judicial review if they pay a fee
- Reduce appropriations to the Defense Department if plans are not submitted on time
Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) cheered the parliamentarian’s ruling, saying in a statement on Thursday:
Tonight, the Senate Parliamentarian advised that certain provisions in the Republicans’ One Big, Beautiful Betrayal will be subject to the Byrd Rule – ultimately meaning they will need to be stripped from the bill to ensure it complies with the rules of reconciliation. As much as Senate Republicans would prefer to throw out the rule book and advance their families lose and billionaires win agenda, there are rules that must be followed and Democrats are making sure those rules are enforced. We will continue examining every provision in this Great Betrayal of a bill and will scrutinize it to the furthest extent.
Warren said in a statement about the parliamentarian’s ruling that the 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.”
“Democrats fought back, and we will keep fighting back against this ugly bill,” she added.
