U.S. Sen. Deb Fischer (R-NE) and U.S. Rep. Tom Emmer (R-MN) applauded a June 29 ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court deeming the leadership structure of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) unconstitutional.
“For years, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s unconstitutional structure prevented the American people from oversight and transparency,” Rep. Emmer said. “The American people deserve to have agency leadership that is held accountable by those whom they elect.”
The Supreme Court ruled in Seila Law LLC v. CFPB that Congress violated the separation of powers when it put a single director in charge of enforcing consumer protection laws, according to its decision, which says that the CFPB director now is removable at the will of the president.
Sen. Fischer said the High Court’s decision “is something I have long voiced, and now Congress must act.”
The senator touted the Financial Product Safety Commission Act of 2020, S. 3990, which she sponsored on June 17 with five Republican cosponsors to replace the CFPB with a bipartisan Financial Product Safety Commission.
If enacted, S. 3990 would authorize the commission of five individuals to be appointed by the president and confirmed by the U.S. Senate, according to a bill summary provided by her office. Each commissioner would serve staggered five-year terms with no more than three commissioners being from the same political party.
“My legislation offers a common-sense solution for reforming the bureau and making its structure resemble other independent agencies,” said Sen. Fischer, who first introduced a version of the bill in 2013.
By replacing the single director with a bipartisan, multi-member commission, S. 3990 “would ensure that the bureau does not simply become a political arm of whichever party controls the White House,” added Sen. Fischer. “It would also prevent rash decision making at the bureau, leading to more certainty for American businesses.”
Rep. Emmer called the Supreme Court’s ruling “a win for the American consumer” and said he was “proud to support the amicus brief that argued for the decision we have today.”
Rep. Emmer and 26 of his GOP colleagues supported Seila Law in their amicus brief filed in the CFPB case, calling the bureau “an unprecedented threat to the separation of powers and to the democratic legitimacy of the federal government.”
“By design, it is one of the nation’s most powerful executive agencies. It has vast power to regulate the national economy by setting consumer protection policy and enforcing federal law,” according to the brief. “The Court has never upheld a restriction on the removal of a principal executive officer like the head of the CFPB, and it should not start now.”