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Senators press Powell on CFPB pause and whether private actors accessed Treasury payment systems
Summary
Senators questioned Federal Reserve Chair Jerome H. Powell about a temporary stand‑down at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and media reports about private attempts to access Treasury payment systems; Powell said the Fed executes payments as Treasury's fiscal agent and committed to notify the committee if it learns of any access attempts.
Senators pressed Federal Reserve Chair Jerome H. Powell on operational risks created by recent actions at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and on media reports that private actors sought access to Treasury payment systems.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, the committee's ranking member, warned that recent actions at the CFPB had effectively "shut down the CFPB" and left no federal examiner for the $18 trillion consumer lending market. She said that canceled CFPB exams and probes would remove "cops on the beat" checking for illegal foreclosures, repossessions and junk fees. Multiple senators raised similar concerns about consumer protections if the CFPB ceased normal operations.
Powell explained the Treasury‑Fed operational division: agencies authorize spending and Treasury sends payment instructions upstream to the Fed, which acts as fiscal agent and executes payments. "We make no judgments whatsoever. Those are all made upstream from us. And we are, in fact, the fiscal agent of, of the Treasury," he said. He told senators he believed the Treasury payment system is safe today and that the Fed is committed to the system's integrity and resilience.
When asked whether any other federal regulator was performing consumer compliance examinations for the largest banks during the CFPB pause, Powell answered succinctly: "I can say no other federal regulator." That exchange underscored senators' concern about an enforcement gap for very large banks.
Several senators asked Powell to notify the committee if he became aware of any attempt by private parties to access Fed or Treasury systems. Powell committed to notify the committee of any such attempt. "Yes," he answered when asked to report to both majority and minority staff immediately if he becomes aware of any attempt to "pierce the Fed's independence or to access its protected systems."
