Member Corner

Committee Pushes for Accountability and Transparency at the CFPB Tuesday’s hearing with Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Richard Cordray was another opportunity for Republicans to promote reforms to make the Bureau accountable and transparent to hardworking taxpayers. Republicans on the Committee are pushing for reforms to make the CFPB accountable and transparent because… Read more »

Committee Pushes for Accountability and Transparency Reforms at the Federal Reserve Republicans at this week’s hearing with Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen raised questions about how much influence the executive branch holds over the central bank and argued in favor of accountability reforms to both protect the Fed’s independence in its conduct of monetary policy and to help give the… Read more »

“If independence is an issue, than we really ought to examine the independence of the Fed from the executive branch of government.  That’s where the real threat is, not from the legislative branch”   CLICK HERE TO WATCH House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-TX) was interviewed on… Read more »

1). The Ex-Im Bank may harm as many jobs as it claims to support. Government export finance assistance programs like Ex-Im “largely shift production among sectors within the economy rather than raise the overall level of employment in the economy.” - Government Accountability Office, “Export-Import Bank: Key Factors in Considering Ex-Im Bank Reauthorization” “[A]t best the Ex-Im Bank… Read more »

Committee Examines Risky Practices at FHA The committee held a hearing on Wednesday to examine the fiscal health of the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) and heard testimony from Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro. "We all recall the famous admonition from Spanish philosopher Santayana who said, 'Those who do not remember the past are condemned to… Read more »

Several months ago this blog noted that Australia’s richest citizen secured a nearly $700 million loan for a new mining project from American taxpayers thanks to the U.S. Export-Import. Now the Australian Business Review is reporting that the project “is set for very large losses.” In the short term, the capital costs for Gina Rinehart’s Roy Hill mine are almost certain to… Read more »

Subcommittee Examines Legal and Ethical Violations at HUD The Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee heard testimony at its hearing on Wednesday that senior officials at the Department of Housing and Urban Development broke federal law and faced minor consequences for various ethical and legal violations. In its coverage of the hearing testimony, the Washington Post reported the… Read more »

Washington ‘Rolling the Dice’ Again on Risky Housing Schemes At a hearing on Tuesday, members of the committee voiced their strong concerns to the Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency regarding recent FHFA actions that could repeat the same mistakes that led to the financial crisis. "Contrary to the fable told by the left, the root cause of the financial crisis was not… Read more »

  CLICK HERE TO WATCH In this week's FSC Video Message, members give their thoughts on the president’s State of the Union speech.  Read more »

Committee Adopts Oversight Plan On Wednesday the Committee voted unanimously to adopt the Committee's oversight plan for the 114th Congress. "No one in Washington – Republican or Democrat – should ever be allowed to carelessly spend the hard-eared taxpayers’ money. And that is why this committee will continually and vigilantly monitor every agency and every program under our… Read more »