Federal RuleAug 21
62
DOL Rewrites Disability Rules for 'Merit-Based Opportunity' Push
RuleLabor DepartmentFederal Contract Compliance Programs OfficeSignificant Wallet
119-hr-10184119th CongressWALLET
Consumer Financial Protection Accountability and Reform Act of 2026
Sponsored By: Representative Barr, Andy [R-KY-6]
In Committee
Summary
Rein in the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection by moving it into the annual appropriations process and tightening how it writes rules, supervises firms, and enforces consumer‑finance laws.
Personalized for You
How does this bill affect your finances?
Personalize government policy and PRIA will tell you what this bill means for your household, plus every other piece of legislation we track. PRIA reads each provision against your financial profile to show you exactly what matters to your wallet.
Bill Overview
Analyzed Economic Effects
8 provisions identified: 2 benefits, 0 costs, 6 mixed.
Tighter standards and notice to firms
If enacted, the bill would narrow when the Bureau may use 'abusive' or 'substantial injury' authority. 'Substantial injury' would be limited to concrete, quantifiable harms and exclude trivial or purely emotional harms. The Bureau must define 'abusive' by rule within 180 days and may not enforce 'abusive' before that rule takes effect. The bill would add a notice-and-cure process: if a firm self-identifies a possible UDA/AP, the Bureau must give written notice within 90 days and allow 180 days to fix the issue before starting proceedings.
New protections for earned wage access
If enacted, workers who use earned wage access (EWA) would get new consumer protections. Providers could not share fees or tips with your employer, charge interest, late fees, or penalties, or sell expected wages to debt buyers (except when you knowingly lied). If a provider charges a fee, it would also have to offer the same wage amount at no cost and start a no-cost transfer within one business day when you choose it. Providers would have to verify wages before each disbursement, get a short attestation each pay period, reimburse overdraft/NSF fees they cause, follow GLBA privacy rules, and the Bureau would write implementing rules within 180 days.
New limits on supervision and suits
If enacted, the Bureau's supervision and enforcement powers would be narrower. Supervision would be limited to specific products that triggered the review and market-monitoring data could not be used to start enforcement. The Bureau must notify prudential and state regulators before suing or entering consent orders against insured banks or credit unions and must consider regulators' views. Certain banks and credit unions could elect alternate supervision, the nonbank supervision standard would require 'substantial injury,' State attorneys general could be limited when the Bureau acts, and licensed attorneys' defined litigation activities would be outside agency supervision.
Small-dollar loan safe harbor
If enacted, lenders that meet new product and disclosure rules could get a TILA safe harbor for 'small-dollar products' with principal $3,500 or less. That $3,500 limit would be adjusted annually for inflation starting Jan 1, 2028 (2026 base) and rounded to the nearest $100, with 60 days' Federal Register notice. Covered rules include repayment over more than 45 days for most draws, fully amortized payments (narrow single-payment exceptions), no rollovers except when a consumer asks, no prepayment penalties, limits on balloon payments, and disbursement within five days after approval.
Civil penalty and restitution changes
If enacted, the bill would lower a redesigned civil-penalty tier from $1,000,000 to $50,120 and require the Bureau to consider self-reporting and mitigation when setting penalties. The Bureau must issue a rule within 180 days to implement the changes and may publish a penalty matrix for consistency. After payments to all direct victims, any remaining penalty amounts tied to that penalty would go to the Treasury general fund.
Definition for buy now, pay later
If enacted, 'buy now, pay later' would be defined as a point-of-sale service that splits a purchase into a set of substantially equal installments and that does not charge interest or a finance charge. The definition would exclude loans not made at the point of sale and financing that is secured by the goods purchased or leased in the transaction.
More oversight and rulemaking checks
If enacted, several changes would add interagency review, transparency, and budget controls for the Bureau. OMB would review major Bureau rules within eight years and non-major rules within ten years and require public comment and cost-benefit follow-up. The Bureau would need more pre-notice consultation with prudential and state regulators and share its data and assumptions with OMB. Agencies would add a clarity statement to guidance saying guidance is not binding. The bill would create an Inspector General for the Bureau, move the Bureau to annual appropriations, and require advance notice-and-comment before deleting or changing small-business loan data and stronger small-entity analyses.
New rules for filing CFPB complaints
If enacted, people who file complaints with the Bureau would face new verification steps. Complainants may need to attest under penalty of perjury that the complaint is true and show proof of identity like an SSN, birth certificate, or state ID. Covered persons could close complaints they find duplicative or fraudulent, and the Bureau would keep narrative complaint content private while publishing aggregated trends without identifying information.
Sponsors & CoSponsors
Sponsor
Barr, Andy [R-KY-6]
KY • R
Cosponsors
Rep. Hill, J. French [R-AR-2]
AR • R
Sponsored 8/31/2026
Rep. Lucas, Frank D. [R-OK-3]
OK • R
Sponsored 8/31/2026
Rep. Sessions, Pete [R-TX-17]
TX • R
Sponsored 8/31/2026
Rep. Huizenga, Bill [R-MI-4]
MI • R
Sponsored 8/31/2026
Rep. Wagner, Ann [R-MO-2]
MO • R
Sponsored 8/31/2026
Rep. Williams, Roger [R-TX-25]
TX • R
Sponsored 8/31/2026
Rep. Emmer, Tom [R-MN-6]
MN • R
Sponsored 8/31/2026
Rep. Loudermilk, Barry [R-GA-11]
GA • R
Sponsored 8/31/2026
Rep. Davidson, Warren [R-OH-8]
OH • R
Sponsored 8/31/2026
Rep. Rose, John W. [R-TN-6]
TN • R
Sponsored 8/31/2026
Rep. Steil, Bryan [R-WI-1]
WI • R
Sponsored 8/31/2026
Rep. Timmons, William R. [R-SC-4]
SC • R
Sponsored 8/31/2026
Rep. Stutzman, Marlin A. [R-IN-3]
IN • R
Sponsored 8/31/2026
Rep. Meuser, Daniel [R-PA-9]
PA • R
Sponsored 8/31/2026
Rep. Kim, Young [R-CA-40]
CA • R
Sponsored 8/31/2026
Rep. Donalds, Byron [R-FL-19]
FL • R
Sponsored 8/31/2026
Rep. Garbarino, Andrew R. [R-NY-2]
NY • R
Sponsored 8/31/2026
Rep. Fitzgerald, Scott [R-WI-5]
WI • R
Sponsored 8/31/2026
Rep. Flood, Mike [R-NE-1]
NE • R
Sponsored 8/31/2026
Rep. Lawler, Michael [R-NY-17]
NY • R
Sponsored 8/31/2026
Rep. De La Cruz, Monica [R-TX-15]
TX • R
Sponsored 8/31/2026
Rep. Nunn, Zachary [R-IA-3]
IA • R
Sponsored 8/31/2026
Rep. McClain, Lisa C. [R-MI-9]
MI • R
Sponsored 8/31/2026
Rep. Salazar, Maria Elvira [R-FL-27]
FL • R
Sponsored 8/31/2026
Rep. Downing, Troy [R-MT-2]
MT • R
Sponsored 8/31/2026
Rep. Haridopolos, Mike [R-FL-8]
FL • R
Sponsored 8/31/2026
Rep. Moore, Tim [R-NC-14]
NC • R
Sponsored 8/31/2026
Rep. Norman, Ralph [R-SC-5]
SC • R
Sponsored 8/31/2026
Rep. Ogles, Andrew [R-TN-5]
TN • R
Sponsored 8/31/2026
Rep. Calvert, Ken [R-CA-41]
CA • R
Sponsored 9/16/2026
Roll Call Votes
No roll call votes available for this bill.
View on Congress.gov