Joint Brief: AFR Joins Argument Urging Supreme Court to Support CFPB Structure

The amici submitting this brief are consumer organizations with an interest in the constitutional analysis that determines whether the structure of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is consistent with separation-of-powers principles …

Inattention by federal financial regulatory agencies and limitations on their authority contributed significantly to the 2008 financial crisis that destabilized the American economy and caused grave hardship to consumers. See PHH Corp. v. CFPB, 881 F.3d 75, 77–78 (D.C. Cir. 2018). Responding to market and regulatory failures that fueled this “Great Recession,” Congress enacted the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, Pub. L. No. 111-203, 124 Stat. 1376 (2010). In that Act, Congress created the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). To ensure that consumer financial protections would have the undivided attention of an agency able to withstand political pressure and avoid capture by regulated industries, Congress gave the CFPB significant autonomy, including “the authority and accountability to ensure that existing consumer protection laws and regulations are comprehensive, fair, and vigorously enforced.” H.R. Conf. Rep. No. 111-517, at 874 (2010).