DCUC Supports Hill-Barr CFPB Reform Legislation, Urges Addition of Bipartisan Commission

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, the Defense Credit Union Council expressed its support for the Consumer Financial Protection Accountability and Reform Act of 2026, introduced by House Financial Services Committee Chairman French Hill and Financial Institutions Subcommittee Chairman Andy Barr. ​

In a letter to Chairmen Hill and Barr, DCUC praised the legislation as a comprehensive effort to improve the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's (CFPB) accountability, transparency, and predictability while preserving its responsibility to protect consumers from fraud, deception, exploitation, and demonstrable financial harm. 
 
The legislation would bring the CFPB into the regular congressional appropriations process, establish more rigorous cost-benefit requirements, require retrospective reviews of CFPB regulations, create a dedicated Inspector General, clarify the Bureau’s authority over “abusive” practices, and reinforce the role of state insurance regulators. 
 
The bill also contains several credit-union-specific reforms. It would raise the threshold for direct CFPB supervision from $10 billion to $30 billion, allow eligible credit unions to elect supervision by their prudential regulator, require greater coordination with the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) and state regulators, clarify that agency guidance is not legally binding, and create a voluntary safe harbor for qualifying small-dollar credit products. 
 
“Chairmen Hill and Barr have produced serious legislation that recognizes consumer protection and regulatory accountability are not competing objectives,” says Anthony Hernandez, DCUC President/CEO, Ret. U.S. Air Force Colonel. “An effective CFPB must be able to pursue fraud and exploitation, but it must also operate under clear statutory boundaries, meaningful congressional oversight, and a supervisory structure that respects the expertise of the NCUA and state regulators. These reforms would help preserve access to affordable, responsible financial services for servicemembers, veterans, and military families.” 
 
While supporting the overall legislation, DCUC urged the Committee to add a bipartisan, five-member commission to replace the CFPB’s current single-director leadership structure. DCUC recommends five Senate-confirmed commissioners serving staggered terms, with no more than three members from the same political party and with relevant experience in consumer protection, prudential supervision, credit unions, community financial institutions, and financial innovation. DCUC previously presented that recommendation to the Committee in its August 20 comments on the CFPB reform discussion draft. 
 
“This bill addresses the Bureau’s funding, rulemaking, enforcement, supervision, and oversight, but one important structural safeguard remains absent,” says Jason Stverak, DCUC Chief Advocacy Officer. “A bipartisan commission is the missing piece. No single director, Republican or Democrat, should be able to swing national consumer-finance policy dramatically from one administration to the next. A commission would not stop the CFPB from acting against bad actors. It would make the Bureau’s major decisions more transparent, deliberative, stable, and durable.” 
 
The commission proposal has long been central to House Republican CFPB reform efforts. House Financial Services Committee Republicans advanced commission legislation beginning in 2011, the Committee approved a bipartisan five-member commission proposal in 2013, and Chairman Barr renewed the proposal during a March 2025 hearing. 
 
DCUC’s letter urges the Committee to incorporate the commission proposal and advance the strengthened legislation through the House.