The case is one of many in recent years challenging the independent leadership structure of the bureau.
1/15/2019 9:00
A case with several plaintiffs contesting the constitutionality of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s structure will not be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court refused to hear the case from State National Bank, of Big Spring, Texas, which joined plaintiffs Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI), a nonprofit public policy organization, and 60 Plus Association, a seniors’ advocacy group, last year, it announced Monday.
Justice Brett Kavanaugh “took no part in the consideration or decision of this appeal,” The Hill reports.
Kavanaugh, previously a judge in the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, authored the majority panel opinion in PHH Corp v. CFPB, declaring the bureau unconstitutional, ACA International previously reported. Last year, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) called for the U.S. Supreme Court to deny the petition from State National Bank and other plaintiffs who sought to challenge the CFPB’s leadership structure. If the case continued in the Supreme Court, Kavanaugh would have had to recuse himself because of his previous opinion.
In the PHH Corp. v. CFPB ruling, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit removed a $109 million penalty against the company. In the same decision, the court ruled that the bureau’s structure is constitutional.
After that ruling, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled against the plaintiffs in the State National Bank case—prompting the petition to the U.S. Supreme Court, ACA International previously reported.
The Competitive Enterprise Institute issued a statement for the plaintiffs Monday.
“The case raised constitutional issues of major importance regarding the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, an agency that wields massive power over the economic activities of the public and sets a dangerous precedent for unaccountable federal bureaucracy,” said Sam Kazman, Competitive Enterprise Institute’s general counsel. “But there are other pending lawsuits that raise these same issues, and we are hopeful the court will have another opportunity to review them.”
The DOJ, in its brief calling for denial of the State National Bank case, also noted that other pending Court of Appeals cases raise similar opposition to the bureau’s leadership structure, such as CFPB v. RD Legal Funding LLC; CFPB v. All American Cash Checking Inc.; and CFPB v. Seila Law LLC, ACA International previously reported.
Related Content from ACA International:
U.S. Department of Justice Opposes Petition for Supreme Court to Hear BCFP Case
If you are interested in sharing articles and analysis on legal cases, industry laws and regulations or other relevant topics for possible publication with ACA International, email our Communications Department at [email protected].