Merkley Slams Republican Efforts to Roll Back Consumer Protection and Wall Street Reform

WASHINGTON – Oregon’s Senator Jeff Merkley, along with Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Al Franken (D-MN), slammed Senate Republicans’ budget push to roll back consumer protections and Wall Street reform at a press conference held in the Capitol today.

The Senate Budget that is being debated on the floor this week includes language to weaken the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and to roll back financial reforms.

“If you want to know whether this is a budget that works for working Americans or a budget for the best off, look no further than how this budget treats consumer protection,” said Merkley. “In less than five years, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has returned more than $5 billion to ordinary American families who have been ripped off by predatory financial practices – and has saved them countless billions more by preventing more of these schemes. But this budget tries to weaken and undermine the CFPB, and aims to roll back the rules of the road for Wall Street.

“This budget is a roadmap toward putting more money in the pockets of unscrupulous predators and less money in the pockets of middle-class families. That’s one-hundred percent the wrong direction.”