The Senate’s rule-keeper just threw a wrench into a plan to defund a federal financial watchdog that many conservatives view as a bloated bureaucratic mess.
Breitbart reported that on Thursday, Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough ruled that the Senate’s version of the Big Beautiful Bill, which sought to eliminate funding for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), violates the chamber’s strict budgetary reconciliation rules and must be revised.
This isn’t just about the CFPB—a brainchild of progressive champion Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA)—as MacDonough also struck down a slew of other provisions in the bill that aimed to trim fat from various federal agencies.
Among the rejected measures were plans to slash Federal Reserve staff pay by a hefty $1.4 billion, cut $293 million from the Office of Financial Research, and gut $771 million from the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board to shift its duties to the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The parliamentarian also nixed efforts to repeal funding for Inflation Reduction Act programs, scrap an Environmental Protection Agency rule on vehicle emissions, and introduce a fee system to bypass judicial reviews for environmental projects.
Even a provision to reduce Defense Department appropriations for late planning submissions didn’t cut, showing just how broadly MacDonough’s ruling swept across the bill’s ambitions.
Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) didn’t mince words, declaring his commitment to “advancing legislation that cuts waste and duplication in our federal government and saves taxpayer dollars.”
While that’s a noble goal for those of us who cringe at government overreach, it seems the Senate’s arcane rules are playing goalie, blocking even the most common-sense reforms from getting a fair shot.
Scott doubled down, vowing that he and his colleagues “remain committed to cutting wasteful spending at the CFPB” and will keep working with the parliamentarian to salvage their provisions.
On the other side of the aisle, Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) couldn’t resist a victory lap, noting that the parliamentarian’s decision means Republicans’ “One Big, Beautiful Betrayal” must strip out offending parts to comply with reconciliation rules.
Merkley’s jab about a “families lose and billionaires win agenda” might sound dramatic, but it’s just the usual progressive playbook—painting any cut to government spending as an attack on the little guy while ignoring the ballooning debt we’re all saddled with.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) herself chimed in, calling the proposals a “reckless, dangerous attack on consumers” that would let “giant financial institutions” run amok and jeopardize the financial system for billionaire tax breaks.
Warren’s follow-up promise that “Democrats fought back, and we will keep fighting back against this ugly bill” is a clear signal that the left sees the CFPB as a sacred cow worth defending at all costs.
Yet, for many on the right, the CFPB represents everything wrong with unchecked federal power—an agency born from progressive ideals that often seems more focused on regulating businesses into submission than truly protecting consumers. Isn’t it time to ask if taxpayers are getting bang for their buck, or just more red tape?