WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) issued the following statement following Senate approval of a Congressional Review Act resolution to hold the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau accountable:

“The CFPB, which claims to protect consumers, seems to have found a way to actually harm them more. By eliminating a key settlement tool, consumers who are found to have been harmed by bad actors would receive less compensation under the CFPB’s regulation. The Treasury Department released a study showing how this regulation has little to do with consumer protection and everything to do with lining the pockets of trial lawyers. Not only did the CFPB choose to ignore that study, it also chose to ignore its own analysis showing that the average arbitration pay-out was more than $5,000 while the average class action lawsuit paid consumers only $32 while trial lawyers made off with millions.

“We passed this Congressional Review Act resolution to protect consumers from wrong doing, while avoiding frivolous lawsuits that will only drive up costs for the millions of Americans who carry a credit card. The CFPB continues to be one of the most unaccountable bureaucracies in Washington and this Congress will continue to stand up for consumers even when the CFPB will not.

“It is also worth noting the deficiencies of the CFPB study that supported this misguided rule. Since its genesis, Republicans have criticized the CFPB for its lack of internal and external accountability. It is no surprise then that the CFPB would rely on such a flimsy study to support the arbitration rule. After all, as a general rule, the Director answers to no one. At least in this case, however, the CFPB is going to answer to Congress.”