By Mike Albanese | DS News
The Supreme Court ruled Monday that the structure of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is unconstitutional, but it can keep operating under new rules.
“The CFPB’s single-Director configuration is also incompatible with the structure of the Constitution, which—with the sole exception of the Presidency—scrupulously avoids concentrating power in the hands of any single individual,” the ruling states.
Additionally, the court said its director “must be removable by the President at will.”
The CFPB was created by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts) prior to her time as an elected official and created by Congress following the 2008 financial collapse.
“Today’s decision has made it easy for a president to fire the CFPB director for political reasons and for no-cause. The structure of the CFPB was certainly unique but it was designed to prevent the gridlock that a board could create and maintain independence from political pressure and changing administrations. This independence is what allowed the CFPB to be a powerful and effective advocate for US consumers. Unfortunately, this ruling undermines these goals. That said, all is not lost as the agency has not been dismantled. We’ll have to wait and see how effective the CFPB will now be when it functions like other parts of the executive branch.” ~Shruti Gurudanti, Attorney at Rose Law Group
