Misplaced Pages

#150849

78-474: The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ( CFPB ) is an independent agency of the United States government responsible for consumer protection in the financial sector . CFPB's jurisdiction includes banks , credit unions , securities firms, payday lenders , mortgage-servicing operations, foreclosure relief services, debt collectors , for-profit colleges, and other financial companies operating in

156-616: A Cabinet secretary) and the Executive Office of the President . In a narrower sense, the term refers only to those independent agencies that, while considered part of the executive branch , have regulatory or rulemaking authority and are insulated from presidential control, usually because the president's power to dismiss the agency head or a member is limited. Established through separate statutes passed by Congress , each respective statutory grant of authority defines

234-511: A preliminary injunction and allowed Mulvaney to begin serving as CFPB Acting director. Seila Law LLC (Seila Law), a law firm that provided debt relief services, was under investigation by the CFPB. As part of its investigation, the CFPB issued a civil investigative demand (CID) to Seila Law, which required Seila Law to produce certain documents. Seila Law declined to comply with the CID and challenged

312-400: A "radical structure" that "is controlled by a single individual who cannot be fired for poor performance and who exercises sole control over the agency, its hiring and its budget." Moreover, the committee alleged a lack of financial transparency and a lack of accountability to Congress or the President. Committee Vice Chairman Patrick McHenry , expressed particular concern about travel costs and

390-411: A $ 55 million renovation of CFPB headquarters, stating "$ 55 million is more than the entire annual construction and acquisition budget for GSA for the totality of federal buildings." In 2014, some employees and former employees of the CFPB testified before Congress about an alleged culture of racism and sexism at the agency. Former employees testified they were retaliated against for bringing problems to

468-682: A Government Accountability Office ("GAO") investigation, commenced on July 12, 2013." On August 22, 2013, one month after Morgan Drexen's lawsuit, the CFPB filed its own lawsuit against Morgan Drexen in the United States District Court for the Central District of California alleging that Morgan Drexen charged advance fees for debt relief services in violation of the Telemarketing Sales Rule and engaged in deceptive acts and practices in violation of

546-448: A commission, board, or similar collegial body consisting of five to seven members who share power over the agency. (This is why many independent agencies include the word "Commission" or "Board" in their name.) The president appoints the commissioners or board members , subject to Senate confirmation, but they often serve terms that are staggered and longer than a four-year presidential term, meaning that most presidents will not have

624-454: A company, it's hard to get your reputation back. Mick Mulvaney , as acting director of the CFPB, removed all 25 members of the agency's Consumer Advisory Board on June 5, 2018, after eleven of them held a press conference on June 3 in which they criticized him. On February 13, 2021, President Joe Biden formally submitted to the Senate the nomination of Rohit Chopra to serve as director of

702-526: A narrower sense, the term independent agency refers only to these independent regulatory agencies that, while considered part of the executive branch, have rulemaking authority and are insulated from presidential control, usually because the president's power to dismiss the agency head or a member is limited. Independent agencies can be distinguished from the federal executive departments and other executive agencies by their structural and functional characteristics. Their officers can be protected from removal by

780-671: A one" or similar. While new regulations are continually becoming effective, the printed volumes of the CFR are issued once each calendar year, on this schedule: The Office of the Federal Register also keeps an unofficial, online version of the CFR, the e-CFR, which is normally updated within two days after changes that have been published in the Federal Register become effective. The Parallel Table of Authorities and Rules lists rulemaking authority for regulations codified in

858-591: A process that includes (a) publication of the proposed rules in a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM), (b) certain cost-benefit analyses, and (c) request for public comment and participation in the decision-making, and (d) adoption and publication of the final rule, via the Federal Register . Rulemaking culminates in the inclusion of a regulation in the Code of Federal Regulations. Such regulations are often referred to as "implementing regulations" vis-a-vis

SECTION 10

#1732775534151

936-842: A special issue of the Federal Register by the Office of the Federal Register (part of the National Archives and Records Administration ) and the Government Publishing Office . In addition to this annual edition, the CFR is published online on the Electronic CFR (eCFR) website, which is updated daily. Congress frequently delegates authority to an executive branch agency to issue regulations to govern some sphere. These statutes are called "authorizing statute" or "enabling statute" (or "authorizing legislation"). Authorizing statutes typically have two parts:

1014-642: A substantive scope (typically using language such as "The Secretary shall promulgate regulations to [accomplish some purpose or within some scope]" and (b) procedural requirements (typically to invoke rulemaking requirements of the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA, codified at 44 U.S.C.   §§ 3501 – 3521 ), Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA, codified at 5 U.S.C.   §§ 601 – 612 ), and several executive orders (primarily Executive Order 12866 )). Generally, each of these laws requires

1092-437: A survey they conducted "revealed that members of the public, librarians, researchers, students, attorneys, and small business owners continue to rely on the print" version of the Federal Register . AALL also argued that the lack of print versions of the Federal Register and CFR would mean the 15 percent of Americans who do not use the internet would lose their access to that material. The House voted on July 14, 2014, to pass

1170-538: A unilateral actor insulated from Presidential control," Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in the majority opinion, which was joined by his conservative colleagues. The statutes around the Director's position on the CFPB were considered severable from the remaining structure of the CFPB, and the Court ordered that "The agency may therefore continue to operate, but its Director, in light of our decision, must be removable by

1248-405: Is not generally true. While their are some that are quite untraceable, like Monero, that is usually not the case. Most cryptocurrencies are public by default, including major currencies like Bitcoin or Ethereum, which list all transactions on a public ledger viewable by anyone. In 2016, the CFPB took its first enforcement action against a company that the CFPB alleged had failed to properly protect

1326-644: The Consumer Financial Protection Safety and Soundness Improvement Act of 2013 (H.R. 3193; 113th Congress) was introduced into the United States House of Representatives. The bill would have created a five-person commission and removed it from the Federal Reserve System. The CFPB would have been renamed the "Financial Product Safety Commission". The bill was also intended to make it easier to override

1404-552: The Consumers Union claim that it is a "vital tool that can help consumers make informed decisions". CFPB detractors argue that the CFPB database is a "gotcha game" and that there is already a database maintained by the Federal Trade Commission although that information is not available to the public. On January 4, 2012, Barack Obama issued a recess appointment to install Cordray as director through

1482-619: The Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act , during the 111th United States Congress in response to the late-2000s recession and financial crisis . The agency was originally proposed in 2007 by then Harvard Law School professor Elizabeth Warren , who later became a US senator. The proposed CFPB was actively supported by Americans for Financial Reform , a newly created umbrella organization of some 250 consumer, labor, civil rights and other activist organizations. On September 17, 2010, President Obama announced

1560-1123: The Federal Reserve , the Federal Trade Commission , the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation , the National Credit Union Administration and even the Department of Housing and Urban Development . The bureau is an independent unit located inside and funded by the United States Federal Reserve , with interim affiliation with the U.S. Treasury Department . The CFPB writes and enforces rules for financial institutions, examines both bank and non-bank financial institutions , monitors and reports on markets, as well as collects and tracks consumer complaints. The CFPB opened its website in early February 2011 to accept suggestions from consumers via YouTube , Twitter , and its own website interface. According to

1638-750: The Securities and Exchange Commission , the Federal Reserve , the Commodity Futures Trading Commission , the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation , and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau . Generally, the heads of independent regulatory agencies can only be removed for cause, but Cabinet members and heads of independent executive agencies, such as the head of the Environmental Protection Agency , serve "at

SECTION 20

#1732775534151

1716-876: The United States Office of Special Counsel , the Social Security Administration , and the Federal Housing Finance Agency , and temporarily for one year during the American Civil War for the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency . Roberts wrote that the three current uses "are modern and contested. And they do not involve regulatory or enforcement authority comparable to that exercised by

1794-579: The United States Supreme Court ruled that the president can remove the director without cause but allowed the agency to remain in operation. According to former Director Richard Cordray , the Bureau's priorities are mortgages, credit cards and student loans . The CFPB qualifies as a large independent agency that was designed to consolidate its employees and responsibilities from a number of other federal regulatory bodies, including

1872-591: The United States Treasury Department , the bureau is tasked with the responsibility to "promote fairness and transparency for mortgages , credit cards , and other consumer financial products and services". According to its web site, the CFPB's "central mission...is to make markets for consumer financial products and services work for Americans—whether they are applying for a mortgage, choosing among credit cards, or using any number of other consumer financial products". In 2016 alone most of

1950-439: The financial crisis of 2007–08 and the subsequent Great Recession and is an independent bureau within the Federal Reserve . Throughout its existence, the Bureau has been persistently targeted by Republican politicians and the financial industry; it is one of the agencies that Project 2025 advocates that Congress should cut. The CFPB's status as an independent agency has been subject to many challenges in court. In June 2020,

2028-541: The CFPB "has curtailed abusive debt collection practices, reformed mortgage lending, publicized and investigated hundreds of thousands of complaints from aggrieved customers of financial institutions, and extracted nearly $ 12 billion for 29 million consumers in refunds and canceled debts." That figure had risen to $ 19 billion by 2024. The CFPB has created a number of personal finance tools for consumers, including Ask CFPB, which compiles plain-language answers to personal finance questions, and Paying for College, which estimates

2106-470: The CFPB after being investigated by the Office of Special Counsel (OSC). On May 21, 2018, US President Donald Trump signed into law Congressional legislation repealing the enforcement of automobiles lending rules. On May 24, 2018, Trump signed into law the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief and Consumer Protection Act , exempting dozens of banks from the CFPB's regulations. On September 26, 2013,

2184-646: The CFPB decisions. It passed in the House of Representatives on February 27, 2014 and was received by the Senate on March 4. It was never considered in the Democratic controlled Senate. Two lawsuits were filed in the early years of the CFPB; they were both dismissed by federal courts, but one was appealed and is still ongoing. The first one, filed on June 21, 2012, by a Texas bank along with the Competitive Enterprise Institute , challenged

2262-475: The CFPB structure, with a sole director that could only be terminated for cause, was unconstitutional as it violated the separation of powers, vacating the lower court judgement and remanding the case for review. The Court recognized that the statutes around the director of the CFPB was severable from the rest of the statute establishing the agency, and thus "The agency may therefore continue to operate, but its Director, in light of our decision, must be removable by

2340-621: The CFPB's structure is constitutional, the Fifth Circuit in Collins v. Mnuchin (2018) held that the structure of the Federal Housing Finance Agency —another agency whose director can be removed only for cause—violated the separation of powers. The Supreme Court granted certiorari in Seila Law on October 18, 2019, and heard oral argument on March 3, 2020. The Court issued its decision on June 29, 2020. The 5–4 decision ruled that

2418-425: The CFPB, was removed from consideration as the bureau's first formal director after Obama administration officials became convinced Warren could not overcome strong Republican opposition. On July 17, President Obama nominated former Ohio Attorney General and Ohio State Treasurer Richard Cordray to be the first formal director of the CFPB. Prior to his nomination, Cordray had been hired as chief of enforcement for

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau - Misplaced Pages Continue

2496-506: The CFPB. His nomination was approved on September 30, 2021, by a 50-48 vote. In December 2021, CFPB fined LendUp $ 100,000 due to deceptive marketing and fair lending violations, and the company was required to stop issuing new loans. In June 2024, the CFPB proposed banning using medical debt in credit reports or loan decisions. In July 2024, the CFPB gave Zelle a choice between a settlement or litigation around its handling of fraud and scams on its platform. From its creation until 2017,

2574-531: The CFPB." Roberts also wrote that the CFPB structure "is also incompatible with the structure of the Constitution, which—with the sole exception of the Presidency—scrupulously avoids concentrating power in the hands of any single individual." Roberts referred back to the precedent established by Humphrey's Executor and Morrison as a basis for the majority's decision. Justice Elena Kagan wrote

2652-459: The CFR. The CFR is divided into 50 titles that represent broad subject areas: The Federal Register Act originally provided for a complete compilation of all existing regulations promulgated prior to the first publication of the Federal Register , but was amended in 1937 to provide a codification of all regulations every five years. The first edition of the CFR was published in 1938. Beginning in 1963 for some titles and for all titles in 1967,

2730-674: The Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA). The CFPB won this lawsuit and Morgan Drexen was ordered to pay $ 132,882,488 in restitution and a $ 40 million civil penalty. In October 2016, the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled that it was unconstitutional for the CFPB director to be removable by the president of the United States only for cause, such as "inefficiency, neglect of duty or malfeasance." Circuit Judge Brett Kavanaugh , joined by Senior Circuit Judge A. Raymond Randolph , wrote that

2808-537: The FVRA to designate an acting CFPB Director. The OLC memo maintained that "both the Vacancies Reform Act and [§1011(b)(5) of Dodd-Frank] are available for filling on an acting basis a vacancy that results from the resignation of the CFPB's Director" but that "when the President designates an individual...outside the ordinary order of succession, the President's designation necessarily controls." This position

2886-698: The House Financial Services Committee's Jeb Hensarling , to repeal the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act , passed the House on June 8, 2017. Also in June 2017, the Senate was crafting its own reform bill. Testimony in US Congressional hearings of 2017 have elicited concerns that the wholesale publication of consumer complaints is both misleading and injurious to the consumer market. Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-GA) said at one such congressional hearing, "Is

2964-503: The Office of the Federal Register began publishing yearly revisions, and beginning in 1972 published revisions in staggered quarters. On March 11, 2014, Rep. Darrell Issa introduced the Federal Register Modernization Act (H.R. 4195; 113th Congress) , a bill that would revise requirements for the filing of documents with the Office of the Federal Register for inclusion in the Federal Register and for

3042-410: The President at will." Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the majority opinion joined by conservative Justices Clarence Thomas , Samuel Alito , Neil Gorsuch , and Brett Kavanaugh . Roberts wrote that the CFPB structure with a single point of leadership that could only be removed for cause "has no foothold in history or tradition", and has only been used in four other instances: three current uses for

3120-523: The President at will." The dissenting opinion, written by Justice Elena Kagan , stated that the majority's decision has the court "second-guessing" the two political branches of government (Congress and the president) on how to structure the executive branch and "wipes out a feature of [the CFPB] its creators thought fundamental to its mission—a measure of independence from political pressure." On November 24, 2017, Director Cordray appointed Leandra English to

3198-498: The President's power to remove subordinate officials at will." The dissenting Justices did concur on the matter of severability of the remaining structure of the CFPB outside of the director. Independent agency of the United States government [REDACTED] [REDACTED] In the United States government , independent agencies are agencies that exist outside the federal executive departments (those headed by

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau - Misplaced Pages Continue

3276-790: The Supreme Court's prior decisions upholding for-cause removal in Humphrey's Executor and Morrison were "controlling". It also referred approvingly to the en banc decision of the DC Circuit in PHH Corp. v. CFPB (2018), in which the Circuit found that the structure of the CFPB was constitutional. There was arguably a circuit split on the question presented in Seila Law . While the Ninth Circuit and DC Circuit had held that

3354-487: The United States Constitution. Unbridled from constitutionally-required accountability, CFPB has engaged in ultra vires and abusive practices, including attempts to regulate the practice of law (a function reserved for state bars), attempts to collect attorney-client protected material, and overreaching demands for, and mining of, personal financial information of American citizens, which has prompted

3432-414: The United States. Since its founding, the CFPB has used technology tools to monitor how financial entities used social media and algorithms to target consumers. The agency was originally proposed in 2007 by Elizabeth Warren while she was a law professor. The CFPB's creation was authorized by the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act , whose passage in 2010 was a legislative response to

3510-485: The agency's methodology means it can only guess who may be victims of discrimination entitled to settlement funds, as of late 2015, the CFPB had yet to compensate any individuals who were victims of Ally's allegedly discriminatory practices. In 2016, the House voted to overturn its 2013 guidance, with 88 Democrats joining House Republicans. Cordray was accused but cleared of any violations of the Hatch Act as Director of

3588-478: The agency. However, Cordray's nomination was immediately in jeopardy due to 44 Senate Republicans vowing to derail any nominee in order to encourage a decentralized structure of the organization. Senate Republicans had also shown a pattern of refusing to consider regulatory agency nominees. The CFPB formally began operation on July 21, 2011. Since the CFPB database was established in 2011, more than four million complaints have been published. CFPB supporters include

3666-635: The appointment of Warren as Assistant to the President and Special Advisor to the Secretary of the Treasury on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to set up the new agency. Due to the way the legislation creating the bureau was written, until the first director was in place, the agency was not able to write new rules or supervise financial institutions other than banks. Elizabeth Warren, who proposed and established

3744-548: The attention of superiors. House Republicans criticized the methodology the CFPB uses to identify instances of racial discrimination among auto lenders. Because of legal constraints, the agency used a system to "guess" the race of auto loan applicants based on their last name and listed address. Based on that information, the agency charged several lenders were discriminating against minority applicants and levied large fines and settlements against those companies. Ally Financial paid $ 98 million in fines and settlement fees in 2013. As

3822-479: The authorizing statute. The rules and regulations are first promulgated or published in the Federal Register . The CFR is structured into 50 subject matter titles. Agencies are assigned chapters within these titles. The titles are broken down into chapters, parts, sections and paragraphs. For example, 42 C.F.R. § 260.11(a)(1) would indicate "title 42, part 260, section 11, paragraph (a)(1)." Conversationally, it would be read as "forty-two C F R two-sixty point eleven

3900-507: The circuit judges from the earlier panel wrote separate dissents. In June 2018, New York Federal District Court judge Loretta Preska ruled against its structure. In January 2019, the Supreme Court denied review of the DC Circuit Court decision. In October 2019, the Supreme Court announced it would review the constitutionality of the Bureau's structure in the case Seila Law v. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau considering

3978-552: The commissioners – the Appointments Clause of the Constitution vests that power in the president. The Senate does participate, however, in appointments through " advice and consent ", which occurs through confirmation hearings and votes on the president's nominees. These agencies are not represented in the cabinet and are not part of the Executive Office of the president: Although not officially part of

SECTION 50

#1732775534151

4056-538: The constitutionality of provisions of the CFPB. One year later, in August 2013, a federal judge dismissed the lawsuit because the plaintiffs had failed to show that they had suffered harm. In July 2015, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit affirmed in part and reversed in part, holding that the bank, but not the states that later joined the lawsuit, had standing to challenge

4134-533: The constitutionality of the CFPB. The CFPB brought a motion to enforce the CID to the United States District Court for the Central District of California , where District Judge Josephine Staton granted the motion after finding the CFPB was constitutionally structured. Seila Law's appeal to the Ninth Circuit was dismissed. The 9th Circuit panel affirmed the District Court's ruling, and agreed that

4212-478: The cost of attending specific universities based on the financial aid offers a student has received. In 2014, the CFPB attempted to help consumers understand the risks of cryptocurrencies . However their guidance contained several factual errors, and did not factor in the many positive benefits of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, such as hedging against inflation, or censorship resistance. The CFPB guidance claimed that cryptocurrencies are "generally untraceable." This

4290-467: The dissent joined by Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg , Stephen Breyer , and Sonia Sotomayor . Kagan wrote that "Today's decision wipes out a feature of that agency its creators thought fundamental to its mission—a measure of independence from political pressure." Kagan challenged the separation of powers argument presented by the majority: "Nowhere does the text [of the Constitution] say anything about

4368-516: The end of 2013. This was a highly controversial move as the Senate was still holding pro forma sessions, and the possibility existed that the appointment could be challenged in court. This type of recess appointment was unanimously ruled unconstitutional in NLRB v. Noel Canning . On July 16, 2013, the Senate confirmed Cordray as director in a 66–34 vote. Cordray resigned in late 2017 to run for governor of Ohio. The Financial CHOICE Act , proposed by

4446-408: The executive branch, these agencies are required by federal statute to release certain information about their programs and activities into the Federal Register , the daily journal of government activities: [REDACTED]  This article incorporates public domain material from Independent Agencies . USA.gov . Code of Federal Regulations The CFR annual edition is published as

4524-651: The goals the agency must work towards, as well as what substantive areas, if any, over which it may have the power of rulemaking. These agency rules (or regulations), when in force, have the power of federal law. Independent agencies exist outside the federal executive departments (those headed by a Cabinet secretary) and the Executive Office of the President. There is a further distinction between independent executive agencies and independent regulatory agencies, which have been assigned rulemaking responsibilities or authorities by Congress. The Paperwork Reduction Act lists 19 enumerated "independent regulatory agencies", such as

4602-415: The governing statute, but the functional differences have more legal significance. In reality, the high turnover rate among these commissioners or board members means that most presidents have the opportunity to fill enough vacancies to constitute a voting majority on each independent agency commission within the first two years of the first term as president. In some famous instances, presidents have found

4680-438: The hundreds and thousands of consumer complaints about their financial services—including banks and credit card issuers—were received and compiled by CFPB and are publicly available on a federal government database. Once a financial institution acquires $ 10   billion in assets , it falls under the guidance, rules, and regulations under the CFPB. The bank will then be known as a CFPB regulated bank. The CFPB will examine

4758-712: The independent agencies more loyal and in lockstep with the president's wishes and policy objectives than some dissenters among the executive agency political appointments . Although Congress can pass statutes limiting the circumstances under which the president can remove commissioners of independent agencies, if the independent agency exercises any executive powers like enforcement, and most of them do, Congress cannot reserve removal power over executive officers to itself. Constitutionally, Congress can only remove officers through impeachment proceedings. Members of Congress cannot serve as commissioners on independent agencies that have executive powers, nor can Congress itself appoint

SECTION 60

#1732775534151

4836-989: The institution for compliance with bank regulatory laws. The regulations implemented by the Bureau are housed in Chapter X of Title XII Banks and Banking of the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations . Some notable examples include the ECOA ( Equal Credit Opportunity Act - Regulation B), HMDA ( Home Mortgage Disclosure Act - Regulation C), Alternative Mortgage Transaction Parity Act of 1982 (Regulation D), EFTA ( Electronic Fund Transfer Act - Regulation E), FDCPA ( Fair Debt Collection Practices Act - Regulation F), FCRA ( Fair Credit Reporting Act - Regulation V), RESPA ( Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act - Regulation X), TILA ( Truth in Lending Act - Regulation Z), and Truth in Savings Act (Regulation DD). In July 2010, Congress passed

4914-441: The keys to the director's office on November 27 and ordered all CFPB employees to disregard any claims from English that she is the acting director. Both English and Mulvaney sent emails to the entire 1,600-person staff of the CFPB, each signing as "Acting Director" of the agency. On November 28, 2017, U.S. District Judge Timothy J. Kelly , who had been appointed by President Trump just a few months earlier, denied English's motion for

4992-610: The law was "a threat to individual liberty" and instead found that the president could remove the CFPB director at will. Circuit Judge Karen L. Henderson agreed that the CFPB Director had been wrong in adopting a new interpretation of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act , finding the statute of limitations did not apply to the CFPB, and fining the petitioning mortgage company PHH Corporation $ 109 million, but she dissented from giving

5070-496: The law, and returned the case for further proceedings. A lawsuit filed July 22, 2013, by Morgan Drexen Integrated Systems, a provider of outsourced administrative support services to attorneys, and Connecticut attorney Kimberly A. Pisinski, challenged the constitutionality of the CFPB. The complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia , alleged that the "CFPB's structure insulates it from political accountability and internal checks and balances in violation of

5148-442: The opportunity to appoint all the commissioners of a given independent agency. In addition, most independent agencies have a statutory requirement of bipartisan membership on the commission, so the president cannot simply fill vacancies with members of his own political party. The president can normally designate which commissioner will serve as the chairperson. Congress can designate certain agencies explicitly as "independent" in

5226-419: The pleasure of the president" and can be removed without cause. The degree to which the President has the power to use executive orders to set policy for independent executive agencies is disputed. Many orders specifically exempt independent agencies, but some do not. Executive Order 12866 has been a particular matter of controversy; it requires cost-benefit analysis for certain regulatory actions. In

5304-407: The position of deputy director, and announced that he would leave office at the close of business that day. Cordray indicated that would make English the acting director after his resignation, citing provisions of the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act providing that the deputy director of the CFPB becomes acting director in the "absence or unavailability" of the director. Later

5382-483: The power to remove officials from agencies that were "an arm or an eye of the executive", it upheld statutory limitations on the president's power to remove officers of administrative bodies that performed quasi-legislative or quasi-judicial functions, such as the Federal Trade Commission. Presidents normally do have the authority to remove regular executive agency heads at will , but they must meet

5460-523: The president a new power to remove the director, citing constitutional avoidance . The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit vacated the decision and ordered en banc review. On January 31, 2018, the en banc D.C. Circuit found that the CFPB's structure was constitutional by a vote of 7–3. Judge Cornelia Pillard , writing for the majority, found that the Take Care Clause does not forbid independent agencies , while each of

5538-403: The president, they can be controlled by a board that cannot be appointed all at once, and the board can be required to be bipartisan. Presidential attempts to remove independent agency officials have generated most of the important Supreme Court legal opinions in this area. In 1935, the Supreme Court in the case of Humphrey's Executor v. United States decided that although the president had

5616-507: The privacy and security of consumers data. In 2024, the Bureau limited credit card late fees to $ 8. The rule was blocked by a judge, but the reason given for the block was overturned by the Supreme Court giving the Bureau confidence that the rule will be implemented. A 2013 press release from the United States House Financial Services Committee criticized the CFPB for what was described as

5694-474: The publication of the Code of Federal Regulations to reflect the changed publication requirement in which they would be available online but would not be required to be printed. The American Association of Law Libraries (AALL) strongly opposed the bill, arguing that the bill undermines citizens' right to be informed by making it more difficult for citizens to find their government's regulations. According to AALL,

5772-504: The purpose of the database just to name and shame companies? Or should they have a disclaimer on there that says it's a fact-free zone, or this is fake news? That's really what I see happening here." Bill Himpler, executive vice president of the American Financial Services Association , a trade group representing banks and other lenders responded "Something needs to be done." "Once the damage is done to

5850-485: The same day, however, President Donald Trump appointed the incumbent director of the Office of Management and Budget , Mick Mulvaney , as acting director, citing the authority of the Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998 . On November 25, the Office of Legal Counsel released an opinion, written by Assistant Attorney General Steven Engel , asserting that the President has the authority under

5928-409: The split decision of the lower courts. Oral arguments began on March 3, 2020. On June 29, 2020, the Supreme Court ruled in a 5–4 decision that the firing protections of the director are an unconstitutional restraint on the president's ability to oversee executive branch agencies. "Such an agency lacks a foundation in historical practice and clashes with constitutional structure by concentrating power in

6006-409: The statutory requirements for removal of commissioners of independent agencies, such as demonstrating incapacity, neglect of duty , malfeasance , or other good cause . While most executive agencies have a single director, administrator, or secretary appointed by the president of the United States , independent agencies (in the narrower sense of being outside presidential control) almost always have

6084-471: Was also supported by the General Counsel of the CFPB, Mary E. McLeod. On November 26, English (represented by former CFPB Senior Counsel Deepak Gupta ) filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia seeking a temporary restraining order and declaratory judgment to prevent Mulvaney from becoming acting director, Mulvaney was given access by unnamed individuals with

#150849