A decision in the case is expected by the end of June.
3/3/2020 14:30
U.S. Supreme Court justices debated the “for cause” removal policy for the director of the industry’s key regulator and its bearing on the president’s executive powers during oral arguments in Seila Law v.Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Tuesday.
ACA International member Porter Heath Morgan IV, general counsel with Morgan Financial Group, attended the oral arguments Tuesday.
An important note: This case is not, as many believe, about whether the bureau itself is unconstitutional, rather it’s an examination of whether the provision of the law allowing the president to remove the agency’s director only “for cause” violates the constitutional separation of powers, ACA previously reported in Collector magazine.
“The justices sparred on Tuesday over whether that removal provision placed an unconstitutional burden on the president’s ability to exercise his executive power and, if so, whether the provision could be severed from the rest of the legislation while leaving the CFPB otherwise in place. A decision is expected by the end of June,” CNBC reports.
Kannon Shanmugam, managing partner at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison representing Seila Law, argued for the elimination of the bureau.
ACA is closely watching the case for its influence on the CFPB’s leadership structure. One possible outcome is for the U.S. Supreme Court to rule the “for cause” removal provision is unconstitutional and send the case back to a lower court or to Congress to discuss the law on the CFPB’s leadership structure, ACA previously reported. Multiple legislative proposals in recent years have focused on changing leadership at the bureau to a commission structure and switching its funding appropriations to Congress instead of the Federal Reserve.
Hear more insights leading into the oral arguments on a recent episode of ACA Cast and watch for updated reports on the case in ACA Daily.