Published: May 2023

Consumer groups urge Supreme Court to uphold the constitutionality of the CFPB

In an amicus brief, consumer advocacy groups urged the Supreme Court to reverse the Fifth Circuit’s ruling, in the case CFSA v. CFPB, that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s funding statute is a violation of the Appropriation Clause—a decision in direct contrast to the Second Circuit’s unanimous ruling that the CFPB’s funding structure does not violate the U.S. Constitution.

Consumer Action joined consumer advocacy allies in an amicus brief urging the Supreme Court to reject the Fifth Circuit’s decision, in the case CFSA v. CFPB, declaring the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) funding statute a violation of the Appropriation Clause of the U.S. Constitution. The decision was in direct contrast to an earlier ruling by the Second Circuit that the CFPB’s funding structure does not violate the Constitution. The CFPB is one of many federal financial regulators (Federal Reserve, FDIC, OCC, etc.) that are funded outside of Congressional appropriations. Congress chose to require independent funding for the CFPB when it created the Bureau in 2010 specifically so that the agency’s ability to function would not be threatened if lawmakers chose to defund the Bureau for political reasons. The case threatens to put the CFPB’s rules and casework regarding debt collectors, payday lenders, mortgage and student loan servicers, and other financial services entities—efforts that have returned more than $16 billion to 190 million consumers—at risk.

Lead Organization

Public Citizen

Other Organizations

Americans for Financial Reform, Public Citizen, Consumer Federation of America, National Consumer Law Center, US PIRG, National Association of Consumer Advocates, Consumer Reports, Student Borrower Protection Center, and the Electronic Privacy Information Center

More Information

Read the press release about the amicus brief here. 

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