HR 1606119th CongressIn Committee

Making the CFPB Accountable to Small Businesses Act of 2025

Introduced: Feb 26, 2025

Standard Summary

Comprehensive overview in 1-2 paragraphs

The Making the CFPB Accountable to Small Businesses Act of 2025 would tighten how regulatory analyses are conducted for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and other “covered agencies.” It directs rulemakers to expressly assess and disclose the impact of proposed rules on small entities, and to provide stronger justification if small-entity considerations are not used to shape the rule or if no small-entity-friendly alternatives are adopted. In practice, the bill expands both the initial and final Regulatory Flexibility Analyses to ensure small businesses bear closer consideration in rule design, and it requires concrete steps and rationales when costs to small entities (such as small banks or consumer-financial service providers) are not mitigated. Overall, the bill aims to increase transparency and accountability to small businesses in the CFPB’s rulemaking process by embedding small-entity impact analysis into the standard regulatory flexibility framework and demanding detailed justification when small-entity considerations are bypassed.

Key Points

1Adds explicit consideration of small-entity impacts to the rulemaking analysis under the Dodd-Frank framework for covered agencies (including the CFPB).
2Increases the initial regulatory flexibility analysis to require a new clause explaining, with factual and legal justification, why small-entity size and resources should have no bearing on the rule if no small-entity–oriented alternatives are adopted (subsection D).
3Expands the final regulatory flexibility analysis to require a description of steps to minimize any added cost of credit for small entities, and a justification for why small-entity considerations should have no bearing if no significant alternatives were adopted.
4References and ties the analysis to section 609 of title 5, U.S.C., ensuring alignment with existing small-entity protections in law.
5Applies to “covered agencies” as defined by the Regulatory Flexibility Act, with specific emphasis on the CFPB’s rulemaking activities.

Impact Areas

Primary group/area affected: Small businesses and other small entities (e.g., small banks, credit unions, fintechs) that are subject to CFPB and related agency rules, as they stand to gain more formal consideration of costs and impacts in rulemaking.Secondary group/area affected: CFPB and other covered agencies’ rulemaking staff, who must implement enhanced analyses, gather data on small-entity impacts, and prepare additional justification and documentation.Additional impacts: Greater transparency and potential for more thorough cost-minimization measures for small entities; possible increase in the time and resources agencies must devote to regulatory analysis and justification when formulating rules. May influence the balance between consumer protection objectives and small-business costs in regulatory decisions.

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