WASHINGTON — The Biden Administration Monday issued a statement expressing its firm opposition to Republican-backed spending cuts for multiple financial consumer protection, oversight and enforcement agencies in the House version of the 2025 Financial Services Appropriations bill.
The administration said President Biden would be willing to veto the bill — known as H.R. 8773, or, the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act for 2025 — if it arrived at his desk.
"House Republicans are again wasting time with partisan bills that would result in deep cuts to law enforcement, education, housing, healthcare, consumer safety, energy programs that lower utility bills and combat climate change, and essential nutrition services," an administration statement noted. "The Administration stands ready to engage with both chambers of the Congress in a bipartisan appropriations process to enact responsible appropriations bills that fully fund Federal agencies in a timely manner."
In a Monday release, the administration's Office of Management and Budget expressed concern that the bill proposes cutting Internal Revenue Service operating funds by $2.2 billion below its fiscal year 2024 enacted level, leaving it with what the administration called a nominal 20-year low in the agency's funding. The proposal also seeks to prohibit the IRS from developing government-run tax preparation software, which the Treasury Department had recently made permanent and has planned to expand.
Another provision of the bill would reduce funding for the Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, or Fincen, at a time when the agency is tasked with implementing the Corporate Transparency Act, which includes establishing a
The OMB also strongly opposed the bill's proposed $48 million cut to firms which provide financial services to underserved communities, known as Community Development Financial Institutions. The bill would also restructure the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and subject it to annual appropriations, a perennial effort by Republicans who lave long questioned the validity of the agency's funding structure.
The OMB also noted the bill would provide funding for markets' regulator the Securities and Exchange Commission that fell short of its FY 2025 Budget request level and restrict its enforcement authority.
