The White House, former Obama administration officials, and Sen. Elizabeth Warren are criticizing attempts to weaken the Dodd-Frank financial-reform law in House Republicans' proposed budget, setting the stage for a policy fight that's only just beginning.
The budget, released on Tuesday, would put the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau under congressional appropriation, which critics say could result in fewer funds for the bureau, since Republicans in Congress would control how much money it receives.
Warren, a Democrat from Massachusetts who served as an assistant in setting up the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau before she ran for Senate, said the House GOP budget could compromise the agency's independence.
"The consumer agency has put in place strong rules to protect consumers from tricks and traps in financial products," Warren said in a statement to National Journal Tuesday night. "The big banks don't like that—and that's the number one reason the CFPB should remain free of political influence."
The White House joined Warren in its criticism, saying that putting the bureau under the appropriation of Congress would limit the agency. The administration also criticized the Republicans budget proposal's "creative-accounting savings" that shift funding for the agency to appropriations.