New Congress, Same Reg F: What Changes for CFPB Oversight in January, and What Doesn't

Matt Lippl, Chief Product Officer, PayPath | Reviewed by Matt Lippl

Last reviewed: Nov 5, 2026

Status as of Thursday, Nov 5, 2026, CT: AP and Ballotpedia report Democrats won both chambers. Committee chairs for the next Congress haven’t been chosen, and PN1079 is on the Senate Executive Calendar with no floor vote listed. We’ll update this line if any of that changes.

The short version. Control of Congress changes hands in January, and with it the leadership of the committees that oversee the CFPB. That can change which hearings get held, what gets asked, and how a pending nomination moves. It doesn’t change the text of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act or Regulation F, and rules in effect today stay in effect unless something else changes them.

Who this is for

Lenders, servicers, debt collectors and collection agencies that follow CFPB activity, and the compliance and operations teams that track how federal debt collection rules are set and overseen.

What happened on Nov 3

Democrats won control of both chambers. AP reported that Democrats won the House and Senate, “taking full control of Congress.” Ballotpedia still lists House and Senate races as uncalled, so this post does not quote a seat count.

The timing is set by the Constitution. Section 2 of the 20th Amendment says Congress “shall assemble at least once in every year, and such meeting shall begin at noon on the 3d day of January, unless they shall by law appoint a different day.” Section 1 ends the current terms of Senators and Representatives at noon on Jan 3, so the current Congress and its current majorities remain in place until then.

Which committees oversee the CFPB

The Consumer Financial Protection Act names them. Under 12 U.S.C. 5496(a), “The Director of the Bureau shall appear before the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Financial Services and the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives at semi-annual hearings regarding the reports required under subsection (b).”

Today, according to the committees’ own sites:

AccountsRecovery.net’s Nov 4 Daily Digest says the results put “Waters and Warren in Line for Financial Gavels.” Committee chairs for the next Congress haven’t been chosen yet. The parties pick their committee leaders, and each chamber formally sets its committee rosters in the new Congress.

What can change in January

Hearings and the agenda. Committee chairs control much of the calendar. House Rule XI, clause 2(c)(1), says “The chair of each standing committee may call and convene, as the chair considers necessary, additional and special meetings of the committee for the consideration of a bill or resolution pending before the committee or for the conduct of other committee business.” Which oversight hearings get scheduled, which witnesses are invited, and which bills get a markup are all shaped by the chair.

The semi-annual hearings. The hearings required by 12 U.S.C. 5496 continue no matter who chairs. The subject matter is set by statute too. Section 5496(c) lists what the report covers, including “a justification of the budget request of the previous year” and “a list of the significant rules and orders adopted by the Bureau, as well as other significant initiatives conducted by the Bureau, during the preceding year and the plan of the Bureau for rules, orders, or other initiatives to be undertaken during the upcoming period.” The questions asked at those hearings are what tends to shift.

The director nomination. Congress.gov lists PN1079 as “Brian Johnson, of Ohio, to be Director, Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection for a term of five years, vice Rohit Chopra.” The nomination was received June 10, 2026, had a hearing July 23, and was ordered reported favorably on Sept 17. ABA Banking Journal reported the committee vote was 13-11 along party lines and that Johnson served as CFPB deputy director during Trump’s first term and is now a Capital One executive. As of Nov 5, 2026, the latest action on Congress.gov is placement on the Senate Executive Calendar on Sept 17. No floor vote is listed.

The “clock” the AccountsRecovery.net Daily Digest mentions comes from the Senate’s rules. Rule XXXI, paragraph 6, says: “Nominations neither confirmed nor rejected during the session at which they are made shall not be acted upon at any succeeding session without being again made to the Senate by the President.” The same paragraph provides for return of pending nominations when the Senate adjourns or recesses for more than thirty days. The Congressional Research Service notes the Senate often waives this by unanimous consent. Under that rule, a nomination still pending when this Congress ends would have to be submitted again by the President to the next Senate.

The CFPB’s leadership today. The latest Semi-Annual Report opens with a “Message from Acting Director Paoletta.” Until a director is confirmed, the bureau is led on an acting basis.

Legislation and the Congressional Review Act. The Congressional Review Act, 5 U.S.C. 801, provides that a rule “shall not take effect (or continue)” if Congress enacts a joint resolution of disapproval. A joint resolution goes to the President like other legislation, and the statute contemplates a veto (801(a)(3)(B)). Section 801(d) also gives a fresh review period in the next session for rules submitted within 60 session days (Senate) or 60 legislative days (House) before a session adjourns. This post doesn’t list which rules, if any, fall in that window, since it depends on adjournment dates that haven’t been set.

What doesn’t change

The FDCPA. The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act is a federal statute, 15 U.S.C. 1692 and following. A change in which party chairs a committee doesn’t change its text. Amending it takes a bill passed by both chambers and signed into law, or passed over a veto.

Regulation F. Reg F is the CFPB’s rule implementing the FDCPA, codified at 12 CFR part 1006. The eCFR lists April 19, 2023 as the most recent amendment to part 1006, with Title 12 up to date as of Nov 2, 2026. Changes to Reg F generally come through the CFPB’s own rulemaking.

Rules already in force. Existing rules stay in force on Jan 3. Congress changing hands doesn’t, by itself, repeal, pause or amend any regulation.

How the Semi-Annual Report fits

The CFPB posted its Semi-Annual Report for January 2026 to June 2026 on Oct 27, 2026. Under 12 U.S.C. 5496, reports like this one are the basis for the director’s semi-annual appearances before the committees, so the next round of hearings would be held by committees under new leadership.

Several items in the report touch debt collection directly:

• Its supervisory priorities include “Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) and Regulation F violations relating to consumer contracts and debts” and “Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and Regulation V data furnishing violations.”

• It lists the August 2025 advance notice of proposed rulemaking on “Defining Larger Participants of the Consumer Debt Collection Market.”

• Its section on upcoming rules says the CFPB “continues to work on a number of deregulatory actions,” including reconsideration of the Personal Financial Data Rights rule and the remaining provisions of the 2017 Payday, Vehicle Title, and Certain High-Cost Installment Loans rule.

Open questions for operators

These are the questions the change raises. None of them has an answer yet.

Who chairs each committee in the 120th Congress?

AccountsRecovery.net reports Waters and Warren are in line. The picks haven’t been made.

Does the Senate act on PN1079 before this session ends?

The nomination is on the Executive Calendar. If it isn’t confirmed or rejected this session, Rule XXXI says it is returned unless the Senate agrees otherwise, and a new nomination would go to a Senate with a different majority.

What do the next semi-annual hearings focus on?

The statute fixes what the report covers. The committees decide which parts of it get the most questions, for example supervisory priorities, the larger participant rulemaking, or the deregulatory items.

Do any recent CFPB rules fall inside the CRA carryover window?

That depends on when each rule was submitted to Congress and when this session adjourns.

Does the CFPB’s own rulemaking agenda change?

Committee leadership doesn’t set the CFPB’s agenda. The bureau’s leadership does, and the director seat is still open.