If the White House and Congress are unable to reach a deal to avoid the sequestration budget cuts by March 1, several federal regulatory agencies will face significant reductions in their funding.
TheHill.com reports that the Office of Management and Budget estimates the regulatory agencies could experience budget cuts of approximately 8%. This means that the Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) $1.3 billion budget would be shorn of $108 million, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) would lose $17 million of its $205 million budget, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) would see $34 million disappear from its $448 million budget.
However, the nation's banking regulators – the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., the Federal Reserve and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency – are exempted from the sequester cuts.
The CFPB declined to comment on the potential cuts, while an SEC spokesperson says the agency is not expecting to furlough any of its employees. CFTC Chairman Gary Gensler says that the sequester cuts are coming at the worst possible time for his agency.
‘We desperately need more resources,’ Gensler says. ‘It's a hard ask when Congress is grappling with budget deficits, I know.’