The U. S. Supreme Court on Monday ruled that the legal stricture preventing the president from firing the head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) was unconstitutional, reasoning that the provision violated separation of powers doctrine. While overshadowed by the release of the Court’s much-anticipated Louisiana abortion ruling, legal experts warned that the decision could have wide-reaching consequences concerning executive power that may play a significant
The U. S. Supreme Court on Monday ruled that the legal stricture preventing the president from firing the head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) was unconstitutional, reasoning that the provision violated separation of powers doctrine. While overshadowed by the release of the Court’s much-anticipated Louisiana abortion ruling, legal experts warned that the decision could have wide-reaching consequences concerning executive power that may play a significant role in the court’s pending decision concerning President Donald Trump’s tax returns.
In the wake of the 2008 financial crash, Congress in 2010 created the CFPB as an independent agency with a single Senate-confirmed director who could only be removed for cause. In a 5-4 decision made along the usual liberal/conservative lines, Chief Justice John Roberts sided with the Court’s conservatives to hold that “the CFPB’s leadership by a single individual removable only for inefficiency, neglect, or malfeasance violates the separation of powers,” while also finding that the unconstitutional provision was severable from the rest of the law.
