I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1018 

To replace the Director of the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection 

with a 5-person commission, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 13, 2017 

Mr. DESJARLAIS (for himself and Mr. DUNCAN of Tennessee) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services 

A BILL 

To replace the Director of the Bureau of Consumer Financial 

Protection with a 5-person commission, and for other 

purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘CFPB Constitutional 

5 Reform Act of 2017’’. 

6 SEC. 2. REPLACING THE DIRECTOR WITH A 5-PERSON COM7 MISSION. 

8 The Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 (12 

9 U.S.C. 5481 et seq.) is amended— 

10 (1) in section 1011— 


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1 (A) by striking subsections (b), (c), and 

2 (d); 

3 (B) by redesignating subsection (e) as sub4 section (h); and 

5 (C) by inserting after subsection (a) the 

6 following new subsections: 

7 ‘‘(b) BUREAU HEADED BY A COMMISSION.— 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Bureau shall be head9 ed by a commission, as provided under this sub10 section. 

11 ‘‘(2) COMPOSITION OF THE COMMISSION.— 

12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The commission shall 

13 be composed of 5 members who shall be ap14 pointed by the President, by and with the ad15 vice and consent of the Senate, from among in16 dividuals who— 

17 ‘‘(i) are citizens of the United States; 

18 and 

19 ‘‘(ii) have strong competencies and ex20 periences related to consumer financial 

21 products and services. 

22 ‘‘(B) STAGGERING.—The members of the 

23 commission shall serve staggered terms, which 

24 initially shall be established by the President 


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1 for terms of 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 years, respec2 tively. 

3 ‘‘(C) TERMS.— 

4 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Except as pro5 vided under subparagraph (B), each mem6 ber of the commission, including the Chair, 

7 shall serve for a term of 5 years. 

8 ‘‘(ii) REMOVAL.—The President may 

9 remove any member of the commission for 

10 inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfea11 sance in office. 

12 ‘‘(iii) VACANCIES.—Any member of 

13 the commission appointed to fill a vacancy 

14 occurring before the expiration of the term 

15 to which that member’s predecessor was 

16 appointed (including the Chair) shall be 

17 appointed only for the remainder of the 

18 term. 

19 ‘‘(iv) CONTINUATION OF SERVICE.— 

20 Each member of the commission may con21 tinue to serve after the expiration of the 

22 term of office to which that member was 

23 appointed until a successor has been ap24 pointed by the President and confirmed by 

25 the Senate, except that a member may not 


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1 continue to serve more than 1 year after 

2 the date on which that member’s term 

3 would otherwise expire. 

4 ‘‘(v) OTHER EMPLOYMENT PROHIB5 ITED.—No member of the commission 

6 shall engage in any other business, voca7 tion, or employment. 

8 ‘‘(c) AFFILIATION.—Not more than 3 members of the 

9 commission shall be members of any one political party. 

10 ‘‘(d) CHAIR.— 

11 ‘‘(1) APPOINTMENT.—The Chair of the com12 mission shall be appointed by the President from 

13 among the members of the commission. 

14 ‘‘(2) AUTHORITY.—The Chair shall be the prin15 cipal executive officer of the commission, and shall 

16 exercise all of the executive and administrative func17 tions of the commission, including with respect to— 

18 ‘‘(A) the appointment and supervision of 

19 personnel employed under the commission 

20 (other than personnel employed regularly and 

21 full time in the immediate offices of members of 

22 the commission other than the Chair); 

23 ‘‘(B) the distribution of business among 

24 personnel appointed and supervised by the 


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1 Chair and among administrative units of the 

2 commission; and 

3 ‘‘(C) the use and expenditure of funds. 

4 ‘‘(3) LIMITATION.—In carrying out any of the 

5 Chair’s functions under the provisions of this sub6 section the Chair shall be governed by general poli7 cies of the commission and by such regulatory deci8 sions, findings, and determinations as the commis9 sion may by law be authorized to make. 

10 ‘‘(e) NO IMPAIRMENT BY REASON OF VACANCIES.— 

11 No vacancy in the members of the commission shall impair 

12 the right of the remaining members of the commission to 

13 exercise all the powers of the commission. Three members 

14 of the commission shall constitute a quorum for the trans15 action of business, except that if there are only 3 members 

16 serving on the commission because of vacancies in the 

17 commission, 2 members of the commission shall constitute 

18 a quorum for the transaction of business. If there are only 

19 2 members serving on the commission because of vacan20 cies in the commission, 2 members shall constitute a 

21 quorum for the 6-month period beginning on the date of 

22 the vacancy which caused the number of commission mem23 bers to decline to 2. 

24 ‘‘(f) SEAL.—The Commission shall have an official 

25 seal. 


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1 ‘‘(g) COMPENSATION.— 

2 ‘‘(1) CHAIR.—The Chair shall receive com3 pensation at the rate prescribed for level I of the 

4 Executive Schedule under section 5313 of title 5, 

5 United States Code. 

6 ‘‘(2) OTHER MEMBERS OF THE COMMISSION.— 

7 The 4 other members of the commission shall each 

8 receive compensation at the rate prescribed for level 

9 II of the Executive Schedule under section 5314 of 

10 title 5, United States Code.’’. 

11 SEC. 3. DEEMING OF NAME. 

12 Any reference in a law, regulation, document, paper, 

13 or other record of the United States to the Director of 

14 the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection shall be 

15 deemed a reference to the Bureau of Consumer Financial 

16 Protection. 

17 SEC. 4. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS. 

18 (a) CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTION ACT OF

19 2010.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided under 

21 paragraph (2), the Consumer Financial Protection 

22 Act of 2010 (12 U.S.C. 5481 et seq.) is amended— 

23 (A) by striking ‘‘Director of the Bureau’’ 

24 each place such term appears, other than where 

25 such term is used to refer to a Director other 


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1 than the Director of the Bureau of Consumer 

2 Financial Protection, and inserting ‘‘Bureau’’; 

3 (B) by striking ‘‘Director’’ each place such 

4 term appears and inserting ‘‘Bureau’’, other 

5 than where such term is used to refer to a Di6 rector other than the Director of the Bureau of 

7 Consumer Financial Protection; and 

8 (C) in section 1002, by striking paragraph 

9 (10). 

10 (2) EXCEPTIONS.—The Consumer Financial 

11 Protection Act of 2010 (12 U.S.C. 5481 et seq.) is 

12 amended— 

13 (A) in section 1013(c)(3)— 

14 (i) by striking ‘‘Assistant Director of 

15 the Bureau for’’ and inserting ‘‘Head of 

16 the Office of’’; and 

17 (ii) in subparagraph (B), by striking 

18 ‘‘Assistant Director’’ and inserting ‘‘Head 

19 of the Office’’; 

20 (B) in section 1013(g)(2)— 

21 (i) by striking ‘‘ASSISTANT DIREC22 TOR’’ and inserting ‘‘HEAD OF THE OF23 FICE’’; and 


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1 (ii) by striking ‘‘an assistant director’’ 

2 and inserting ‘‘a Head of the Office of Fi3 nancial Protection for Older Americans’’; 

4 (C) in section 1016(a), by striking ‘‘Direc5 tor of the Bureau’’ and inserting ‘‘Chair of the 

6 Bureau’’; 

7 (D) in section 1017(c)(1), by striking ‘‘Di8 rector and other’’; 

9 (E) in section 1027(l)(1), by striking ‘‘Di10 rector and the Bureau’’ and inserting ‘‘Chair 

11 and the Bureau’’; and 

12 (F) in section 1066(a), by striking ‘‘Direc13 tor of the Bureau is’’ and inserting ‘‘first mem14 ber of the Bureau is’’. 

15 (b) DODD-FRANK WALL STREET REFORM AND CON16 SUMER PROTECTION ACT.—The Dodd-Frank Wall Street 

17 Reform and Consumer Protection Act (12 U.S.C. 5301 

18 et seq.) is amended— 

19 (1) in section 111(b)(1)(D), by striking ‘‘Direc20 tor of the Bureau’’ and inserting ‘‘Chair of the Bu21 reau’’; and 

22 (2) in section 1447, by striking ‘‘Director of the 

23 Bureau’’ each place such term appears and inserting 

24 ‘‘Bureau’’. 


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1 (c) ELECTRONIC FUND TRANSFER ACT.—Section 

2 921(a)(4)(C) of the Electronic Fund Transfer Act (15 

3 U.S.C. 1693o–2(a)(4)(C)) is amended by striking ‘‘Direc4 tor of the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection’’ and 

5 inserting ‘‘Bureau’’. 

6 (d) EXPEDITED FUNDS AVAILABILITY ACT.—The 

7 Expedited Funds Availability Act (12 U.S.C. 4001 et seq.) 

8 is amended by striking ‘‘Director of the’’ each place such 

9 term appears. 

10 (e) FEDERAL DEPOSIT INSURANCE ACT.—Section 2 

11 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 1812) 

12 is amended by striking ‘‘Director of the Consumer Finan13 cial Protection Bureau’’ each place such term appears and 

14 inserting ‘‘Chair of the Bureau of Consumer Financial 

15 Protection’’. 

16 (f) FEDERAL FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS EXAMINA17 TION COUNCIL ACT OF 1978.—Section 1004(a)(4) of the 

18 Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council Act of 

19 1978 (12 U.S.C. 3303(a)(4)) is amended by striking ‘‘Di20 rector of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’’ and 

21 inserting ‘‘Chair of the Bureau of Consumer Financial 

22 Protection’’. 

23 (g) FINANCIAL LITERACY AND EDUCATION IM24 PROVEMENT ACT.—Section 513 of the Financial Literacy 

25 and Education Improvement Act (20 U.S.C. 9702) is 


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1 amended by striking ‘‘Director of the Bureau of Consumer 

2 Financial Protection’’ each place such term appears and 

3 inserting ‘‘Chair of the Bureau of Consumer Financial 

4 Protection’’. 

5 (h) HOME MORTGAGE DISCLOSURE ACT OF 1975.— 

6 Section 307 of the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act of 1975 

7 is amended by striking ‘‘Director of the Bureau of Con8 sumer Financial Protection’’ each place such term appears 

9 and inserting ‘‘Bureau of Consumer Financial Protec10 tion’’. 

11 (i) INTERSTATE LAND SALES FULL DISCLOSURE

12 ACT.—The Interstate Land Sales Full Disclosure Act is 

13 amended— 

14 (1) by amending section 1402(1) to read as fol15 lows: 

16 ‘‘(1) ‘Chair’ means the Chair of the Bureau of 

17 Consumer Financial Protection;’’; and 

18 (2) in section 1416(a), by striking ‘‘Director of 

19 the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection’’ and 

20 inserting ‘‘Chair’’. 

21 (j) REAL ESTATE SETTLEMENT PROCEDURES ACT

22 OF 1974.—Section 5 of the Real Estate Settlement Proce23 dures Act of 1974 (12 U.S.C. 2604) is amended— 

24 (1) by striking ‘‘The Director of the Bureau of 

25 Consumer Financial Protection (hereafter in this 


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1 section referred to as the ‘Director’)’’ and inserting 

2 ‘‘The Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection’’; 

3 and 

4 (2) by striking ‘‘Director’’ each place such term 

5 appears and inserting ‘‘Bureau’’. 

6 (k) S.A.F.E. MORTGAGE LICENSING ACT OF 2008.— 

7 The S.A.F.E. Mortgage Licensing Act of 2008 (12 U.S.C. 

8 5101 et seq.) is amended— 

9 (1) by striking ‘‘Director’’ each place such term 

10 appears in headings and text and inserting ‘‘Bu11 reau’’; 

12 (2) by striking ‘‘director’’ each place such term 

13 appears in headings and inserting ‘‘Bureau’’; and 

14 (3) in section 1503, by striking paragraph (10). 

15 (l) TITLE 44, UNITED STATES CODE.—Section 

16 3513(c) of title 44, United States Code is amended by 

17 striking ‘‘Director of the Bureau’’ and inserting ‘‘Bu18 reau’’. 

Æ 


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