High Noon for the CFPB at the Supreme Court – WSJ

Democrats in Congress constructed the CFPB to be insulated from accountability by the political branches. This fits the progressive vision of an administrative state run by supposed experts who will instruct Americans on proper behavior whether they like it or not.

The Dodd-Frank Act that created the CFPB tried to insulate it from presidential control by saying the bureau s director could only be removed for cause. The Supreme Court found that unconstitutional in 2020, and now the Justices will consider the agency s funding mechanism that is intended as protection from Congressional appropriations.

Dodd-Frank requires the Federal Reserve each year to transfer whatever amount determined by the Director to be reasonably necessary to fund the Bureau s operation, as long as the amount does not exceed $734 million, which is adjusted annually for inflation. Any money the director requests and doesn t spend rolls over to the following year.

Payday lenders that have been targeted by the CFPB sued, arguing that the bureau s ability to self-fund via the Fed violates the Constitution s command that no Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law. The bureau s budget is double-insulated from Congress since the Fed generates its own funding.

Congress can use its power of the purse to restrain other agencies. Not so the CFPB. Director Rohit Chopra has flaunted his independence by sidestepping the traditional government hiring process and promulgating regulations that Congress hasn t authorized.

via www.wsj.com

The CFPB is the most unconstitutional thing I have ever seen. This should not be a difficult case for the Court. It will be interesting to see how the Justices come down. I feel sorry for J. Kagan as she has got to realize what a horror the statute that created the CFPB is. The other liberal justices are probably invincibly ignorant.