The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau spent only a fraction of its allowed budget last year, and expects to keep spending less than Congress has permitted at least through 2013—but will also staff up examination and enforcement personnel sharply, according to testimony from CFPB Director Richard Cordray.
In testimony Cordray supplied to the House Financial Services Committee ahead of a public hearing on Feb. 15, Cordray says the agency spent only $123 million last year—only 24.7 percent of the $498 million annual appropriation allotted for fiscal 2011. That’s primarily because the CFPB only came into formal existence last July, more than halfway through fiscal 2011. But even in future years, Cordray said, “our budget estimates remain considerably below our budget cap at $356 million for 2012 and $448 million for 2013. At this time, we have no plans to ask Congress for any further appropriations, as we are authorized to do by law.”
