AUSTIN, Texas–Led by the Texas Attorney General’s office, 11 states have filed a friend-of-the-court brief with the United States Supreme Court in a case challenging the constitutionality of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
As CUToday.info reported here, the Supreme Court announced it will hear a case regarding the constitutionality of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
The case the Supreme Court will hear was brought by California-based Seila Law in which it is alleged the single director structure of the agency gives that person too much power in violation of the Constitution’s separation of powers. Directors are appointed for five-year terms. Interestingly, the CFPB itself as well as the Justice Department have previously stated they do not support the structure of the Bureau.
In their joint letter, the states’ attorneys general said the CFPB has “little oversight” and its single administrator “can unilaterally enforce 19 different federal laws, covering everything from home finance and student loans to credit cards and banking practices. The structure of the CFPB violates the Constitution’s separation of powers…”
‘Unelected and Unaccountable Director’
“The CFPB’s structure allows for an unelected and unaccountable director to effectively wield more power than any official in the U.S. government aside from the President of the United States,” Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said. “This considerable power being held by a public official who is not held accountable to the President, Congress, or the people is an intolerable violation of our Constitution and a threat to the liberty of every American.”
Joining Texas in the brief are Arkansas, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Utah, and West Virginia.
Both CUNA and NAFCU issued statements saying regardless of the outcome of the case, they continue to support replacing the single director with a multi-person board.