Press releases

WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) today introduced the CFPB Pay Fairness Act of 2021, which would increase accountability at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) by requiring the agency to pay its employees according to the same standards that apply to their fellow federal employees. 

“The CFPB is supposed to protect consumers, but it looks like the agency is using federal funds to pad its employees’ wallets instead. CFPB salaries eclipse those of other public servants, and we don’t even know why because the CFPB doesn’t follow the standards of the federal pay scale. The CFPB Pay Fairness Act would require the CFPB to pay its employees with transparency and integrity, ending this chapter of bloated bureaucracy,” said Kennedy.

The CFPB Pay Fairness Act of 2021 would give the CFPB 90 days to bring its employee salaries in line with the General Schedule (GS) pay scale for federal employees. Sens. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) and Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) are original co-sponsors of the legislation.

“The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is arguably the least accountable government bureaucracy in our nation’s history,” said Barrasso. “This is abundantly clear when you look at the unjustifiably high salaries paid to the employees at the bureau. Taxpayers should demand that the unelected, unaccountable, and heavy-handed bureaucrats at the CFPB receive compensation in the same manner as virtually all other public servants. I’m proud to join Senator Kennedy in this effort to force this unchecked government agency to bring its employee salaries in line with the federal pay scale.”

“The CFPB is long-overdue for more accountability and oversight from Congress, and allowing their federal bureaucrats to make significantly more money than other federal workers should end immediately,” said Tillis. “This legislation would rightfully end this senseless waste and ensure CFPB employees are under the federal pay scale like every other government agency.” 

Unlike other financial regulators, the CFPB has operated outside of the regular appropriations process since it was created because the Federal Reserve funds the CFPB directly. The CFPB currently pays its employees significantly more than other federal agencies do, in part because it is not bound to the GS pay scale.

Roughly half of the employees at the CFPB receive more than $170,000 per year. CFPB salaries are capped at $259,500, while cabinet secretaries make $221,400. As a result, as many as 32 CFPB employees receive salaries larger than what a cabinet secretary earns. 

The GS pay scale offers the public guidance on what credentials, like education and professional experience, are associated with each federal salary grade. The CFPB, however, does not provide qualification standards to justify its employees’ salaries.

Text of the CFPB Pay Fairness Act of 2021 is available here.