Conservative justices may rein in the consumer agency touted by Elizabeth Warren and launched under President Obama.
The Supreme Court said Friday it will hear a constitutional challenge to the semi-independent status of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, a government agency created by Congress in the wake of the Great Recession to police mortgage providers, credit card issuers and other consumer lenders.
A ruling in the case could signal whether the court’s conservative majority is ready to rein in an array of other semi-independent agencies, such as the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Federal Communications Commission or even the Federal Reserve.Throughout the 20th century, Congress created independent agencies and deliberately shielded them from direct political control by the president. Usually, they are governed by a board with officials named by different presidents.
But it quickly became a prime target of finance businesses and their lawyers. Critics include Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh, who, as an appeals court judge, argued in dissent that it was unconstitutional to have a federal agency operated by a director who could not be removed by the president. Under the CFPB law, the president appoints a director with the approval of the Senate, but once appointed, the director may be removed only for “inefficiency, neglect of duty or malfeasance in office.
The bureau sent a demand for documents, but the firm refused to comply and went to federal court in Santa Ana, arguing the agency itself was unconstitutional because of its structure.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Elizabeth Warren scares Wall Street for good reasonWhy Wall Street fears Elizabeth Warren as she is shaping up to be the Democratic nominee
Read more »
Elizabeth Warren did not win the debate and now she's got work to doThe debate wounded her and revealed her vulnerability on the issue of Medicare For All, writes New Items Editor John Ellis.
Read more »
This Elizabeth Warren Impersonator Is So Good It's FreakyMolly Erdman plays presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren, and it's comically true to life.
Read more »
It's official: Elizabeth Warren is our new 2020 front-runner'Within the first 10 minutes of Tuesday's fourth presidential debate, you could tell something fundamental had changed in the race: Elizabeth Warren is the new front-runner.' | Analysis by CillizzaCNN and ForecasterEnten
Read more »
College students favor Elizabeth Warren over Bernie Sanders for the first time in 7 monthsWarren and Sanders have been college students' top two choices for president since July.
Read more »