[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6972 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>






115th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 6972

    To require the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to meet its 
               statutory purpose, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 28, 2018

 Ms. Maxine Waters of California (for herself, Mrs. Carolyn B. Maloney 
   of New York, Mr. Clay, Mr. Al Green of Texas, Ms. Moore, and Mr. 
   Cleaver) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
 Committee on Financial Services, and in addition to the Committee on 
Education and the Workforce, for a period to be subsequently determined 
 by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as 
        fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To require the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to meet its 
               statutory purpose, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.

    (a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Consumers First 
Act''.
    (b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents for this Act is as 
follows:

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. Findings; sense of Congress.
Sec. 3. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
Sec. 4. Conforming amendments.
Sec. 5. Executive and administration powers.
Sec. 6. Offices of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
Sec. 7. Consumer Advisory Board reforms.
Sec. 8. Investigation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's 
                            Oversight of Student Lending.
Sec. 9. Effective date.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS; SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    (a) Findings.--The Congress finds the following:
            (1) The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer 
        Protection Act (Public Law 111-203) (``Dodd-Frank''), was 
        signed into law on July 21, 2010, in order to, among other 
        things, advance the goals of protecting consumers from unfair, 
        deceptive and abusive financial services practices and products 
        that led to the 2008 financial crisis.
            (2) Title X of Dodd-Frank established a new Federal 
        independent watchdog, commonly known as the Consumer Financial 
        Protection Bureau (``Consumer Bureau''), with broad authority 
        to ensure all hardworking American consumers are given clear, 
        accurate information that they need to shop for mortgages, 
        credit cards, and other consumer financial products or services 
        and to protect consumers from hidden fees, abusive terms and 
        other unfair, deceptive, or abusive practices through strong 
        enforcement of Federal consumer financial laws.
            (3) Before the Consumer Bureau was established, Federal 
        financial regulators were tasked with the dual responsibilities 
        of supervising institutions for safety and soundness and 
        compliance with consumer protections under Federal consumer 
        financial laws. These agencies often prioritized the 
        profitability of their regulated entities over the protection 
        of consumers, even when institutions were found to have engaged 
        in practices detrimental to their own customers' financial 
        well-being.
            (4) Congress purposefully created the independent Consumer 
        Bureau within the Federal Reserve System to address past 
        regulatory gaps in our country's financial services regulatory 
        regime, in which Federal financial regulators were too 
        reluctant to exercise their rulemaking and enforcement 
        authorities to protect consumers from the misdeeds of their 
        regulated entities, that resulted in the most severe global 
        financial crisis since the Great Depression. In doing so, 
        Congress explicitly laid out in statute the Consumer Bureau's 
        purpose, five objectives, and six primary functions. 
        Specifically:
                    (A) Section 1021(a) of Dodd-Frank states that the 
                Consumer Bureau, ``shall seek to implement and, where 
                applicable, enforce Federal consumer financial law 
                consistently for the purpose of ensuring that all 
                consumers have access to markets for consumer financial 
                products and services and that markets for consumer 
                financial products and services are fair, transparent, 
                and competitive''.
                    (B) Section 1021(b) of Dodd-Frank authorizes the 
                Consumer Bureau, ``to exercise its authorities under 
                Federal consumer financial law for the purposes of 
                ensuring that, with respect to consumer financial 
                products and services--(1) consumers are provided with 
                timely and understandable information to make 
                responsible decisions about financial transactions; (2) 
                consumers are protected from unfair, deceptive, or 
                abusive acts and practices and from discrimination; (3) 
                outdated, unnecessary, or unduly burdensome regulations 
                are regularly identified and addressed in order to 
                reduce unwarranted regulatory burdens; (4) Federal 
                consumer financial law is enforced consistently, 
                without regard to the status of a person as a 
                depository institution, in order to promote fair 
                competition; and (5) markets for consumer financial 
                products and services operate transparently and 
                efficiently to facilitate access and innovation.''.
                    (C) Section 1021(c) of Dodd-Frank establishes the 
                primary functions of the Consumer Bureau to be, ``(1) 
                conducting financial education programs; (2) 
                collecting, investigating, and responding to consumer 
                complaints; (3) collecting, researching, monitoring, 
                and publishing information relevant to the functioning 
                of markets for consumer financial products and services 
                to identify risks to consumers and the proper 
                functioning of such markets; (4) subject to sections 
                1024 through 1026, supervising covered persons for 
                compliance with Federal consumer financial law, and 
                taking appropriate enforcement action to address 
                violations of Federal consumer financial law; (5) 
                issuing rules, orders, and guidance implementing 
                Federal consumer financial law; and (6) performing such 
                support activities as may be necessary or useful to 
                facilitate the other functions of the Bureau.''.
            (5) Under Dodd-Frank, the Deputy Director of the Consumer 
        Bureau shall serve as the Acting Director in the absence or 
        unavailability of the Director, until the President appoints 
        and the Senate confirms a new Director. Despite the clear 
        legislative history underscoring the importance of having an 
        independent Federal agency and the plain letter of the law 
        establishing a succession order to fill a vacancy in the 
        Director's position, when the Consumer Bureau Director Richard 
        Cordray resigned in November 2017, President Trump refused to 
        recognize the Deputy Director as the rightful head of the 
        agency and instead unlawfully installed Mr. Mick Mulvaney, the 
        Director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, to 
        serve as the Consumer Bureau's Acting Director. This 
        appointment of a White House cabinet official to run the 
        Consumer Bureau raises profound conflict of interest questions 
        and undermines the vital independent nature of the agency.
            (6) In addition to the illegality of Mr. Mulvaney's 
        appointment, there is another problem. The position of an 
        Acting Director is, by its nature, still intended to be a 
        temporary assignment to maintain the status quo at an agency, 
        until the President appoints and the Senate confirms, a 
        permanent Director. Nevertheless, Mr. Mulvaney's temporary 
        status leading the agency has been characterized by drastic and 
        severe changes of the Consumer Bureau's daily operations and 
        priorities.
            (7) The daily operations of a Federal agency are guided by 
        its official mission contained in its long-term strategic plan. 
        The Consumer Bureau's mission should embrace both the spirit 
        and letter of the law, by fully recognizing the agency's 
        statutory purpose, objectives, and functions. It is troubling 
        that the Consumer Bureau, under its new Trump Administration 
        appointed leadership, issued a Strategic Plan for Fiscal Year 
        (``FY'') 2018-FY 2022, that appears to deemphasize the core 
        mandate under section 1021(a) of Dodd-Frank to, ``enforce 
        Federal consumer financial law consistently for the purpose of 
        ensuring that all consumers have access to markets for consumer 
        financial products and services'', by not referencing the 
        importance of enforcement in its mission. Instead, it 
        emphasizes financial education by stating that the agency's new 
        mission is merely, ``[t]o regulate the offering and provision 
        of consumer financial products or services under the Federal 
        consumer financial laws and to educate and empower consumers to 
        make better informed financial institutions''. This is in stark 
        contrast from the Consumer Bureau's Strategic Plan for FY 2013-
        FY 2017, which had an agency's mission of helping, ``consumer 
        finance markets work by making rules more effective, by 
        consistently and fairly enforcing those rules, and by 
        empowering consumers to take more control over their economic 
        lives'' (emphasis added).
            (8) Mr. Mulvaney has been praised by the White House for 
        his efforts to undermine the Consumer Bureau, even with one 
        anonymous advisor acknowledging in a July 24, 2018, Politico 
        article that, ``His mission was to blow that up, which he has. 
        He is very well-suited to the chaos.''. Mr. Mulvaney's 
        misguided actions have included, among other things--
                    (A) stopping payments from the Civil Penalty Fund 
                to harmed consumers;
                    (B) trying to unjustifiably reduce the Consumer 
                Bureau's funding by initially requesting $0 be 
                transferred from the Federal Reserve Board of Governors 
                to carry out the agency's work and by arbitrarily 
                directing staff to cut the agency's budget by one-
                fifth;
                    (C) politicizing the work of the Consumer Bureau by 
                making unusual efforts to fill the independent agency 
                with political appointees;
                    (D) dropping existing lawsuits and investigations 
                into abusive payday lenders;
                    (E) stripping away the enforcement powers of the 
                Office of Fair Lending and Equal Opportunity;
                    (F) changing the role of the Office of Students and 
                Young Consumers and, according to an August 27, 2018, 
                resignation letter from Seth Frotman, the Consumer 
                Bureau's former Assistant Director and Student Loan 
                Ombudsman, ``when new evidence came to light showing 
                that the nation's largest banks were ripping off 
                students on campuses across the country by saddling 
                them with legally dubious account fees, Bureau 
                leadership suppressed the publication of a report 
                prepared by Bureau staff'';
                    (G) abandoning the accepted and efficient practice 
                of having its examiners review, as part of their 
                routine examinations, creditors' compliance with the 
                Military Lending Act in order to ensure the detection 
                and assessment of risky activities that could 
                jeopardize vital protections provided to active-duty 
                servicemembers and their families;
                    (H) creating an Office of Cost Benefit Analysis 
                that prioritizes businesses' expenses over harm caused 
                to consumers, and unduly constrains oversight of the 
                Consumer Bureau's regulated entities;
                    (I) freezing data collection to the detriment of 
                supervision and enforcement;
                    (J) seeking to block the publication of the nature 
                of consumers' complaints and how entities resolved them 
                in the publicly available and transparent Consumer 
                Complaint Database; and
                    (K) restricting key input and feedback from a wide 
                range of external stakeholders by effectively 
                terminating members' positions on three advisory 
                boards, including the statutorily mandated Consumer 
                Advisory Board.
            (9) The new leadership of the Consumer Bureau's repeated 
        attempts to hamstring the good work and the capacity of 
        dedicated professional, career Consumer Bureau staff to hold 
        bad actors accountable for their misdeeds will inevitably harm 
        consumers and distort the functioning of fair and competitive 
        consumer marketplaces, and nonsensically repeats the mistakes 
        made by the Federal financial regulators that contributed to 
        the global financial crisis.
            (10) Despite the fact that the agency has been referred to 
        as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau since it opened its 
        doors over seven years ago, its new political leadership also 
        opted to change the agency's well-known name. Although this 
        decision is supposedly intended to ensure that the agency is in 
        compliance with Dodd-Frank, when this change is viewed in 
        conjunction with the other detrimental actions to undermine the 
        effectiveness of the agency, it can only be interpreted as an 
        attempt to reduce the public's awareness of, and significant 
        support for, the agency's role as the top Federal consumer cop 
        as well as to obscure the public's ability to identify easily 
        the appropriate Federal agency to contact when faced with 
        predatory behavior by financial actors. As such, while some may 
        view this particular decision as minor, the action serves as an 
        important symbolic, and literal, maneuver by the Trump 
        Administration, through its unlawful appointment of Mr. 
        Mulvaney, to diminish and undermine the consumer-focused 
        mission of the Consumer Bureau.
            (11) Dodd-Frank gives the Director of the Consumer Bureau 
        broad administrative and executive powers to, among other 
        things: fix the number of, and appoint and direct, all 
        employees of the agency; direct the establishment and 
        maintenance of divisions or other offices within the agency; 
        determine the character of, and the necessity for, the 
        obligations and expenditure of funds; and the use and 
        expenditure of funds. These powers, however, are required to be 
        exercised in a manner consistent with carrying out the 
        responsibilities under Title X of Dodd-Frank, which includes 
        complying with the enumerated Federal consumer financial laws 
        under the Title, and satisfying the obligations in other 
        applicable laws. The new politically controlled leadership's 
        destructive actions have demonstrated the need for legislation 
        to reorient the Director's discretionary authority to ensure 
        the maintenance of all statutorily mandated policies, 
        functions, and offices of the Consumer Bureau regardless of who 
        is leading the agency.
    (b) Sense of Congress.--The following is the sense of Congress:
            (1) The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau should meet 
        its statutory purpose in a transparent and accountable manner 
        by operating in a way that is consistent with both the spirit 
        and letter of the law, which dictates that the agency's mission 
        should fully reflect the agency's statutory purpose, 
        objectives, and functions.
            (2) Dodd-Frank underscores that the agency is designed to 
        serve as an independent Federal agency that is primarily 
        focused on the protection of all consumers, without any undue 
        influence of partisan whims and special industry interests, in 
        carrying out its responsibilities and duties.
            (3) The official name of the agency should be consistent 
        with this mandate and should, figuratively and literally, put 
        ``Consumers'' first by reverting to its better-known name as 
        the ``Consumer Financial Protection Bureau''.
            (4) The statute establishing the Consumer Bureau has been 
        grossly misinterpreted under the new political leadership, in a 
        manner that is inconsistent with the agency's statutory 
        purpose, objectives, and functions, with just one example of 
        which is Mr. Mulvaney's inane suggestion that the statutory 
        requirement for the Director to appear before relevant 
        Congressional Committees to discuss its semi-annual reports 
        could be interpreted as requiring the Director merely to attend 
        a hearing and not answer questions, despite the well-
        established interpretation of similar statutory requirement for 
        the Chair of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors to appear 
        before the House Financial Services Committee and the Senate 
        Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee on a semi-annual 
        basis about the monetary policy report, as required by the 
        Humphrey-Hawkins Full Employment Act. In the face of such 
        blatant, and disrespectful, attempts to warp the authorizing 
        and oversight role of the first branch of the Federal 
        government--the United States Congress--by the Trump 
        Administration, Congress must, in this instance, now refine the 
        Consumer Bureau's authority to ensure that the vital role that 
        the Consumer Bureau should be playing within the country's 
        financial regulatory regime is not effectively destroyed by the 
        agency's current leadership.
            (5) While the legislation is a direct response to address 
        many of the misguided decisions that have been orchestrated by 
        the new political leadership at the Consumer Bureau that have 
        been exposed to the public, as of the date of the bill's 
        introduction, and sharply criticized by numerous Federal and 
        state officials, including law enforcement, as well as 
        organizations representing servicemembers, senior citizens, and 
        other vulnerable consumer populations, this legislation should 
        not be viewed as an exhaustive list to fix all the damaging 
        actions that may have otherwise occurred at this agency since 
        the departure of former Director Cordray in November 2017, 
        particularly since detailed information revealing the full 
        scope, nature, and extent of the current flawed operation of 
        the agency, and the adverse impact resulting from these 
        actions, may not yet be publicly available. Rather, this 
        legislation should be interpreted as an attempt to highlight, 
        and resolve, a small sample of some of the publicly known 
        egregious statements, decisions, and actions that have occurred 
        during the disastrous tenure of the new political leadership at 
        the agency.

SEC. 3. CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTION BUREAU.

    (a) In General.--Section 1011(a) of the Consumer Financial 
Protection Act of 2010 (12 U.S.C. 5491(a)) is amended by striking 
``Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection'' and inserting ``Consumer 
Financial Protection Bureau''.
    (b) Deeming of Name.--Any reference in any law, regulation, 
document, record, or other paper of the United States to the ``Bureau 
of Consumer Financial Protection'' shall be deemed a reference to the 
``Consumer Financial Protection Bureau''.
    (c) Name Use Requirement.--Section 1011 of the Consumer Financial 
Protection Act of 2010 (12 U.S.C. 5491) is amended by adding at the end 
the following:
    ``(f) Name Use Requirement.--The Consumer Financial Protection 
Bureau shall refer to itself in any public communication, including on 
any website, as the `Consumer Financial Protection Bureau', `Consumer 
Bureau', or the `CFPB'.''.

SEC. 4. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.

    (a) In General.--The Acts described under subsection (b) are 
amended--
            (1) by striking ``Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection'' 
        each place such term appears and inserting ``Consumer Financial 
        Protection Bureau''; and
            (2) by striking ``Bureau'' each place such term appears 
        (where such term is a reference to the Bureau of Consumer 
        Financial Protection but is not part of such term) and 
        inserting ``Consumer Bureau''.
    (b) Acts To Conform.--The Acts described in this subsection are as 
follows:
            (1) The Alternative Mortgage Transaction Parity Act of 1982 
        (12 U.S.C. 3801 et seq.).
            (2) The Consumer Credit Protection Act (15 U.S.C. 1601 et 
        seq.).
            (3) The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer 
        Protection Act (12 U.S.C. 5301 et seq.).
            (4) The Expedited Funds Availability Act (12 U.S.C. 4001 et 
        seq.).
            (5) The Federal Deposit Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 1811 et 
        seq.).
            (6) The Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council 
        Act of 1978 (12 U.S.C. 3201 et seq.).
            (7) The Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and 
        Enforcement Act of 1989 (12 U.S.C. 1811 note et seq.).
            (8) The Financial Literacy and Education Improvement Act 
        (20 U.S.C. 9701 et seq.).
            (9) The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (12 U.S.C. 1811 note et 
        seq.).
            (10) The Home Mortgage Disclosure Act of 1975 (12 U.S.C. 
        2801 et seq.).
            (11) The Homeowners Protection Act of 1998 (12 U.S.C. 4901 
        et seq.).
            (12) The Inspector General Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App 2).
            (13) The Interstate Land Sales Full Disclosure Act (15 
        U.S.C. 1701 et seq.).
            (14) The Omnibus Appropriations Act, 2009 (Public Law 111-
        8).
            (15) The Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act of 1974 (12 
        U.S.C. 2601 et seq.).
            (16) Title LXII of the Revised Statutes of the United 
        States (12 U.S.C. 21 et seq.).
            (17) The Right to Financial Privacy Act of 1978 (12 U.S.C. 
        3401 et seq.).
            (18) The S.A.F.E. Mortgage Licensing Act of 2008 (12 U.S.C. 
        5101 et seq.).
            (19) The Telemarketing and Consumer Fraud and Abuse 
        Prevention Act (15 U.S.C. 6101 et seq.).
            (20) Title 5, United States Code.
            (21) Title 10, United States Code.
            (22) Title 44, United States Code.

SEC. 5. EXECUTIVE AND ADMINISTRATION POWERS.

    (a) Office Responsibilities.--Section 1012 of the Consumer 
Financial Protection Act of 2010 (12 U.S.C. 5492) is amended--
            (1) by redesignating subsection (c) as subsection (d); and
            (2) by inserting after subsection (b) the following:
    ``(c) Office Responsibilities.--Notwithstanding subsections (a) and 
(b), section 1013(a), and any other provision of law, with respect to 
the specific functional units and offices described under subsections 
(b), (c), (d), (e), (g), and (h) of section 1013 and the advisory 
boards described under section 1014, the Director--
            ``(1) shall ensure that such functional units, offices, and 
        boards perform the functions, duties, and coordination assigned 
        to them under the applicable provision of section 1013 or 1014; 
        and
            ``(2) may not reorganize or rename such units, offices, and 
        boards in a manner not provided for under the applicable 
        provision of section 1013 or 1014.''.
    (b) Duty To Provide Adequate Staffing.--Section 1013(a)(1) of the 
Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 (12 U.S.C. 5493(a)(1)) is 
amended by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(D) Duty to provide adequate staffing.--The 
                Director shall ensure that the specific functional 
                units and offices described under subsections (b), (c), 
                (d), (e), (g), and (h) of section 1013, as well as 
                other units and offices with supervisory and 
                enforcement duties, are provided with sufficient staff 
                to carry out the functions, duties, and coordination of 
                those units and offices.''.
    (c) Limitation on Political Appointees.--Section 1013(a)(1) of the 
Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 (12 U.S.C. 5493(a)(1)) is 
amended by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(D) Limitation on political appointees.--
                            ``(i) In general.--In appointing employees 
                        of the Consumer Bureau who are political 
                        appointees, the Director shall ensure that the 
                        number and duties of such political appointees 
                        are as similar as possible to those of the 
                        other Federal primary financial regulatory 
                        agencies.
                            ``(ii) Political appointees defined.--For 
                        purposes of this subparagraph, the term 
                        `political appointee' means an employee who 
                        holds--
                                    ``(I) a position which has been 
                                excepted from the competitive service 
                                by reason of its confidential, policy-
                                determining, policy-making, or policy-
                                advocating character;
                                    ``(II) a position in the Senior 
                                Executive Service as a noncareer 
                                appointee (as such term is defined in 
                                section 3132(a) of title 5, United 
                                States Code); or
                                    ``(III) a position under the 
                                Executive Schedule (subchapter II of 
                                chapter 53 of title 5, United States 
                                Code).''.
    (d) Public Availability of Complaint Information.--
            (1) In general.--Section 1013(b)(3) of the Consumer 
        Financial Protection Act of 2010 (12 U.S.C. 5493(b)(3)) is 
        amended--
                    (A) in subparagraph (A)--
                            (i) by inserting ``publicly available'' 
                        before ``website'';
                            (ii) by inserting ``publicly available'' 
                        before ``database'', each place such term 
                        appears; and
                            (iii) by adding at the end the following: 
                        ``The Director shall ensure that the landing 
                        page of the main website of the Consumer Bureau 
                        contains a clear and conspicuous hyperlink to 
                        the consumer complaint database described in 
                        this subparagraph and shall ensure that such 
                        database is user-friendly and in plain writing 
                        (as such term is defined in the Plain Writing 
                        Act of 2010). The Director shall ensure that 
                        all information on the website or the database 
                        that explains how to file a complaint with the 
                        Consumer Bureau, as well as all reports of the 
                        Consumer Bureau with respect to information 
                        contained in the database, shall be provided in 
                        each of the 5 most commonly spoken languages, 
                        other than English, in the United States, as 
                        determined by the Bureau of the Census on an 
                        ongoing basis, and in formats accessible to 
                        individuals with hearing or vision 
                        impairments.''; and
                    (B) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(E) Public availability of information.--
                            ``(i) In general.--The Director shall--
                                    ``(I) make all consumer complaints 
                                available to the public on a website of 
                                the Consumer Bureau;
                                    ``(II) place a clear and 
                                conspicuous hyperlink on the landing 
                                page of the main website of the 
                                Consumer Bureau to the website 
                                described under subclause (I); and
                                    ``(III) ensure that such website--
                                            ``(aa) is searchable and 
                                        sortable by both consumer 
                                        financial product or service 
                                        and by covered person; and
                                            ``(bb) is user-friendly and 
                                        written in plain language.
                            ``(ii) Inclusion of complaints submitted 
                        with inquiries.--For purposes of clause (i), in 
                        addition to all complaints described under 
                        subparagraph (A), consumer complaints shall 
                        include any complaints submitted with, or as 
                        part of, an inquiry described under section 
                        1034.
                            ``(iii) Removal of personally identifiable 
                        information.--In making the information 
                        described under clause (i) available to the 
                        public, the Director shall remove all 
                        personally identifiable information.''.
            (2) Rule of construction.--The Director of the Consumer 
        Financial Protection Bureau shall ensure that the database and 
        website described under section 1013(b)(3) of the Consumer 
        Financial Protection Act of 2010 have, at a minimum, the same 
        availability, transparency, and functionality that such 
        database and website had prior to November 24, 2017.
    (e) Memoranda of Understanding.--
            (1) Reestablishment of memoranda of understanding.--The 
        memoranda of understanding between the Consumer Financial 
        Protection Bureau and the Department of Education titled 
        ``Memorandum of Understanding Between the Bureau of Consumer 
        Financial Protection and the U.S. Department of Education 
        Concerning the Sharing of Information'' (October 19, 2011) and 
        ``Memorandum of Understanding Concerning Supervisory and 
        Oversight Cooperation and Related Information Sharing Between 
        the U.S. Department of Education and the Consumer Financial 
        Protection Bureau'' (January 9, 2014)--
                    (A) shall remain in effect and may not be 
                terminated by any party to such memorandums; and
                    (B) may only be amended or revised if the parties 
                to the memoranda determine that such amendment or 
                revision would promote better interagency coordination 
                to the benefit of consumers.
            (2) Report on current mous.--Not later than the end of the 
        30-day period beginning on the date of enactment of this Act, 
        the Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau shall 
        issue a report to the Committee on Financial Services of the 
        House of Representatives and the Committee on Banking, Housing, 
        and Urban Affairs of the Senate listing--
                    (A) each memorandum of understanding in effect with 
                the Consumer Bureau on November 24, 2017;
                    (B) any changes made to such a memorandum of 
                understanding since such date, including any memorandum 
                of understanding rescinded since such date; and
                    (C) a justification for each such change or 
                rescission.
            (3) Semi-annual report on mous.--Section 1016(c) of the 
        Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 (12 U.S.C. 5496(c)) 
        is amended--
                    (A) in paragraph (8), by striking ``and'' at the 
                end;
                    (B) in paragraph (9), by striking the period and 
                inserting a semicolon; and
                    (C) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(10) a list of each memorandum of understanding in effect 
        with the Consumer Bureau, any changes made to a memorandum of 
        understanding since the last report was made under subsection 
        (b), and a justification for each such change;''.

SEC. 6. OFFICES OF THE CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTION BUREAU.

    (a) Clarification of the Duties of the Office of Fair Lending and 
Equal Opportunity.--Section 1013(c)(2) of the Consumer Financial 
Protection Act of 2010 (12 U.S.C. 5493(c)(2)) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``Office of Fair Lending and Equal 
        Opportunity shall have such powers and duties as the Director 
        may delegate to the Office, including'' and inserting ``powers 
        and duties of the Office of Fair Lending and Equal Opportunity 
        shall include'';
            (2) in subparagraph (C), by striking ``and'' at the end;
            (3) in subparagraph (D), by striking the period and 
        inserting a semicolon; and
            (4) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(E) implementing the Consumer Bureau's 
                enforcement and supervisory authority with respect to 
                fair lending laws; and
                    ``(F) such additional powers and duties as the 
                Director may determine appropriate.''.
    (b) Office of Students and Young Consumers.--
            (1) In general.--Section 1013 of the Consumer Financial 
        Protection Act of 2010 (12 U.S.C. 5493) is amended--
                    (A) by redesignating subsection (h) as subsection 
                (i); and
                    (B) by inserting after subsection (g) the 
                following:
    ``(h) Office of Students and Young Consumers.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Director shall, not later than the 
        end of the 60-day period beginning on the date of enactment of 
        this section, establish an Office of Students and Young 
        Consumers, which shall work to empower students, young people, 
        and their families to make more informed financial decisions 
        about saving and paying for college, accessing safer and more 
        affordable financial products and services, all matters related 
        to private education loans (as defined under section 1035(e)), 
        and repaying student loan debt, including private education 
        loans.
            ``(2) Head of the office.--The head of the Office of 
        Students and Young Consumers shall be the Assistant Director 
        and Student Loan Ombudsman, and the Assistant Director and 
        Student Loan Ombudsman shall carry out all functions 
        established under section 1035 through the Office of Students 
        and Young Consumers.
            ``(3) Supervisory, enforcement, and regulatory matters.--
        The Office of Students and Young Consumers shall assist in all 
        supervisory, enforcement, and regulatory matters of the 
        Consumer Bureau related to the functions of the Office.
            ``(4) Coordination.--The Director shall enter into 
        memoranda of understanding and similar agreements with the 
        Department of Education and other Federal and State agencies, 
        as appropriate, in order to carry out the business of the 
        Office of Students and Young Consumers.''.
            (2) Renaming and appointment clarification of the private 
        education loan ombudsman.--
                    (A) In general.--Section 1035 of the Consumer 
                Financial Protection Act of 2010 (12 U.S.C. 5535) is 
                amended--
                            (i) in the heading of the section by 
                        striking ``private education'' and inserting 
                        ``assistant director and student''; and
                            (ii) in subsection (a), by striking ``The 
                        Secretary, in consultation with the Director, 
                        shall designate a Private Education Loan 
                        Ombudsman'' and inserting ``The Director shall 
                        designate an individual as the Assistant 
                        Director and Student Loan Ombudsman'';
                            (iii) in subsection (b), by striking ``The 
                        Secretary and the Director'' and inserting 
                        ``The Director''; and
                            (iv) in subsection (d)(2), by inserting 
                        ``the Director,'' before ``the Secretary,''.
                    (B) Clerical amendment.--The table of contents 
                under section 1(b) of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform 
                and Consumer Protection Act is amended, in the item 
                relating to section 1035, by striking ``PRIVATE 
                EDUCATION'' and inserting ``ASSISTANT DIRECTOR AND 
                STUDENT''.
                    (C) Deeming of name.--Any reference in any law, 
                regulation, document, record, or other paper of the 
                United States to the ``Private Education Loan 
                Ombudsman'' shall be deemed a reference to the 
                ``Assistant Director and Student Loan Ombudsman''.
    (c) Semi-Annual Report to Congress on Certain Offices of the 
Consumer Bureau.--Section 1016(c) of the Consumer Financial Protection 
Act of 2010 (12 U.S.C. 5496(c)), as amended by section 5(e)(3), is 
further amended by adding at the end the following:
            ``(11) with respect to each of the specific functional 
        units and offices established under section 1013--
                    ``(A) a detailed description of the activities of 
                the unit or office since the last report was made under 
                subsection (b); and
                    ``(B) an analysis of the efforts of the Consumer 
                Bureau to achieve the duties of the unit or office; and
            ``(12) with respect to each specific functional units and 
        offices established under section 1013, as well as each other 
        unit and office with supervisory and enforcement duties, a 
        break down of the number of political and professional career 
        staff assigned to and employed by each unit or office at the 
        end of the reporting period.''.
    (d) Function of Any Unit or Office Established To Conduct Cost 
Benefit Analysis.--Any unit or office established to conduct cost 
benefit analysis within the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau shall, 
as its sole function, carry out the considerations required by section 
1022(b)(2)(A) of the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 (12 
U.S.C. 5512(b)(2)(A)).

SEC. 7. CONSUMER ADVISORY BOARD REFORMS.

    (a) In General.--Section 1014 of the Consumer Financial Protection 
Act of 2010 (12 U.S.C. 5496) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (b), by adding at the end the following: 
        ``Any change to the charter for the Consumer Advisory Board 
        affecting the membership shall not preclude prior or current 
        members from applying for consideration to serve on a 
        reconstituted Consumer Advisory Board.''; and
            (2) in subsection (c)--
                    (A) by striking ``meet from'' and inserting ``meet 
                in person from''; and
                    (B) by adding at the end the following: ``The 
                Consumer Bureau shall provide adequate notice to the 
                members of the Consumer Advisory Board of the time and 
                date of each meeting, and of any meeting 
                cancellations.''
    (b) Inclusion of the Director in Meetings and Access to Consumer 
Bureau Staff.--Section 1014 of the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 
2010 (12 U.S.C. 5496) is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(e) Inclusion of the Director in Meetings and Access to Consumer 
Bureau Staff.--With respect to each in person meeting of the Consumer 
Advisory Board--
            ``(1) the Director shall attend such meeting; and
            ``(2) the Director shall ensure that the members of the 
        Consumer Advisory Board have an opportunity to meet and engage 
        with all appropriate staff and office of the Consumer 
        Bureau.''.
    (c) Treatment of Members of the Consumer Advisory Board.--
Notwithstanding any other law--
            (1) any member of the Consumer Advisory Board of the 
        Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on November 1, 2017, may 
        continue to serve as a member of such advisory board until 
        March 27, 2020, and may not be removed from such position by 
        the Director of the Consumer Bureau until such date; and
            (2) any member of the Consumer Advisory Board of the 
        Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on the date of enactment 
        of this Act, may continue to serve as a member of such advisory 
        board until March 27, 2020, and may not be removed from such 
        position by the Director of the Consumer Bureau until such 
        date.

SEC. 8. INVESTIGATION OF THE CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTION BUREAU'S 
              OVERSIGHT OF STUDENT LENDING.

    Not later than the end of the 30-day period beginning on the date 
of the enactment of this Act, the Director of the Consumer Financial 
Protection Bureau shall provide the Committee on Financial Services of 
the House of Representatives and the Committee on Banking, Housing, and 
Urban Affairs of the Senate with all relevant final documents, draft 
documents, emails, and other records related to the allegations made by 
Assistant Director and Student Loan Ombudsman Seth Frotman in his 
resignation letter on August 27, 2018, including whether the political 
leadership of the Consumer Bureau suppressed a broader and more 
informative version of the ``Campus Banking Report'' publication.

SEC. 9. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    This Act and the amendments made by this Act shall take effect on 
the date of the enactment of this Act, except that the Director of the 
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau shall have 30 days to complete any 
operational changes to the Consumer Bureau required by this Act or an 
amendment made by this Act.
                                 <all>