The Supreme Court is about to rule on America’s most powerful, unaccountable federal agencyBy Thomas M. Boyd
Published Sep. 28, 2023
The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments Tuesday in a case that might invalidate the most powerful federal administrative agency ever created.
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau v. Community Financial Services Association of America is an appeal of the Fifth Circuit’s unanimous holding that the CFPB’s use of the Federal Reserve System to fund its operations violates the Constitution’s separation of powers.
That opinion declared that the agency’s “perpetual insulation from Congress’ appropriation power, including the express exemption from congressional review of its funding, renders” it unaccountable “to Congress and, ultimately, to the people.”
When it was enacted as part of the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act, the bureau assumed the administration of 18 existing federal statutes.
It was given unprecedented regulatory-enforcement powers, including the authority to conduct investigations, initiate administrative proceedings and litigate civil actions in its own name, potentially resulting in civil penalties as high as $1,000,000 for each day a violation occurs.
Its director, appointed by the president, can only be removed for cause, and the Federal Reserve must provide funding the director deems “reasonably necessary to carry out” the bureau’s responsibilities — up to 12% of the Fed’s operating expenses.
The unprecedented breadth of the CFPB’s powers has surrounded the agency with controversy ever since.
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Source:
https://nypost.com/2023/09/28/the-supreme-court-is-about-to-rule-on-americas-most-powerful-unaccountable-federal-agency/
