WASHINGTON–In the wake of the Supreme Court’s ruling in West Virginia v. EPA, top Republicans on the House Financial Services Committee and the House Oversight and Reform Committee have sent a letter to CFPB Director Rohit Chopra demanding Congress be provided with the clear authorities delegated to the CFPB that justify its current and upcoming actions.
In West Virginia v. EPA, the CFPB invoked the “major questions doctrine” to rule the EPA had exceeded its statutory authority. Many Republicans are arguing the ruling should be applied to other federal agencies, as well.
Patrick McHenry (R-NC), the top Republican on the Financial Services Committee, and James Comer (R-KY), the top Republican on the House Oversight and Reform Committee, wrote, “Although Article I, Section 1 of the United States Constitution vests ‘all legislative powers’ in Congress, the Biden administration has largely relied on executive action to advance its radical agenda. For example, in his first year, President Biden issued more executive orders and approved more major rules than any recent president. Such reliance on the administrative state undermines our system of government.
‘Unaccountable Bureaucrats’
“Our founders provided Congress with legislative authority to ensure lawmaking is done by elected officials, not unaccountable bureaucrats,” the letter continues. “Given this administration’s track record, we are compelled to underscore the implications of West Virginia v. EPA and to remind you of the limitations on your authority….As the Court explained, ‘[p]recedent teaches that there are ‘extraordinary cases’ in which the ‘history and breadth of the authority that [the agency] has asserted,’ and the ‘economic and political significance’ of that assertion, provide a ‘reason to hesitate before concluding that Congress’ meant to confer such authority.’
‘Authorization’ Must be Clear
“Under this doctrine, an agency must point to ‘clear congressional authorization for the authority it claims.’ However, the EPA could not point to such authorization,” the Republicans wrote. “Rather, the EPA ‘discover[ed] an unheralded power representing a transformative expansion of its regulatory authority in the vague language of a long-extant, but rarely used, statute designed as a gap filler.’ Notably, such discovery ‘allowed [EPA] to adopt a regulatory program that Congress had conspicuously declined to enact itself.’ As a result, the Court rejected the EPA’s attempt to so plainly exceed its statutory authority.”
Since becoming director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the letter states that Chopra has also “undertaken a number of so-called ‘initiatives’ that circumvent not only Congressional intent, but the Administrative Procedure Act (APA).
List Requested
The letter asks the CFPB provide Congress with a list of all expected actions, including but not limited to major rulemaking, staff guidance, advisory opinions, and interpretive rules and the specific congressional authority for each rulemaking.
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