FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

May 8, 2023

CONTACT:
William Pierre-Louis, Jr.
william@ourfinancialsecurity.org
(347) 499-7874

Solicitor General’s Brief Condemns Fifth Circuit’s Unconstitutional Decision Against the CFPB

Washington, D.C. – The Solicitor General submitted a brief today supporting the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) in the case CFPB v. CFSA. The Supreme Court will hear the case this fall, reviewing a radical and unprecedented Fifth Circuit decision that held the CFPB’s funding structure unconstitutional and sided with predatory pay-day lenders over CFPB rulemaking designed to protect consumers. 

“The Solicitor General’s support for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau highlights the threats posed to our financial system and vulnerable consumers by the Fifth Circuit’s decision,” said Elyse Hicks, consumer policy counsel at Americans for Financial Reform Education Fund. “The decision undermines the CFPB’s ability to crack down on abusive financial practices by big corporations and predatory lenders, and must be overturned to protect vulnerable consumers and ensure a fair and just financial system.”

Despite facing constant attempts to undermine its work, the CFPB has emerged as one of the most influential and popular agencies, with overwhelming support from voters across the political spectrum. As a consumer champion, the CFPB has recovered billions of dollars from predatory lenders and fought for fair lending practices and protections for vulnerable borrowers.

The CFPB’s statutory funding mechanism is constitutional, as the 2nd circuit recently decided. The Solicitor General’s support for the agency is a significant step towards preserving the agency’s mandate to defend and protect vulnerable consumers and low-income individuals from the industry’s financial wrongdoings.

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