Under the guise of deficit reduction, Republicans on the House Financial Services Committee have voted to roll back four provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act.

Republicans said the proposal apporoved Wednesday would save $35 billion by eliminating regulator authority to temporarily use tax dollars to wind down failing financial institutions, slash the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's budget by more than half, eliminate the Treasury's Office of Financial Research, and scrap the Obama Administration's Home Affordability Modification Program.

According to publications covering Capitol Hill, the largest budget savings would come from the measure to repeal taxpayer-subsidized wind-downs – $22 billion according to the Congressional Budget Office. However, Democrats countered that costs would, by design, be recovered by industry assessments.

The GOP also seeks to bring the CFPB's budget under congressional control, and reduce funding from its current annual budget of $547 million to $200 million. If efforts to repeal HAMP are successful, it would eliminate the threat of a mortgage principal forgiveness program that the Treasury wants to work into the program.

The committee approved the measure 31-26. No Democrats voted for it and no Republicans against it. The measure now goes to the full House.

Instant Insights /

Dodd-Frank, CFPB Targeted in House Financial Services Committee Vote

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