The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has once again been found to be unconstitutionally structured. The ruling is a win for CFPB critics and calls into question most actions taken by the agency.
A unanimous three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit held on Wednesday that the CFPB’s funding mechanism, funded by fees generated by Federal Reserve Board not through Congressional appropriations, is unconstitutional. According to the court, the CFPB’s funding is double insulated from Congress and, thus, is unaccountable to both Congress and the public. As such, the CFPB’s funding mechanism violates the Constitution’s separation of powers design and, specifically, the Appropriations Clause.