While most Americans were glued to former FBI Director James Comey’s testimonybefore Congress last week, two financial regulatory measures dropped below the radar. House lawmakers passed a bill that would gut the Dodd-Frank financial reform legislation of 2010. If passed under its current form, the Financial Choice Act would give the president the power to fire the heads of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which oversees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, at any time for any -- or no -- reason. It would also give Congress power over the CFPB's budget, which means that lawmakers could defund the agency entirely. That’s a shame, because in the near six years since the CFPB was established, it has provided over $12 billion in relief for millions of consumers.
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