Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Must Be Defunded

From the earliest days of our republic, Congress’s power of the purse has universally been understood as not only assigning to the federal legislature the task of deciding how public funds are to be spent, but also as its most effective tool to check the other branches from amassing too much power. This fundamental constitutional principle, often taken for granted, is the result of centuries of Anglo-American history in which the House of Commons won the power of the purse through a long and bloody struggle with the monarchy.

King Charles I lost a civil war and his head after he raised taxes without the consent of Parliament. Today, the law commands that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) lose its lifeblood — money — precisely because Congress designed the agency to be exempt from its power of the purse.

About the Author

Rand Paul

Rand Paul is a U.S. Senator representing Kentucky.

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From the earliest days of our republic, Congress’s power of the purse has universally been understood as not only assigning to the federal legislature the task of deciding how public funds are to be spent, but also as its most effective tool to check the other branches from amassing too much power. This fundamental constitutional principle, often taken for granted, is the result of centuries of Anglo-American history in which the House of Commons won the power of the purse through a long and bloody struggle with the monarchy.

King Charles I lost a civil war and his head after he raised taxes without the consent of Parliament. Today, the law commands that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) lose its lifeblood — money — precisely because Congress designed the agency to be exempt from its power of the purse.