A bipartisan group of 132 members of Congress recently filed an amicus curiae brief urging the Supreme Court to uphold the Fifth Circuit's decision on the unconstitutionality of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's funding structure as lawmakers push for subjecting the Bureau's funding to congressional appropriations.
Spearheaded by Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., ranking member of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, Rep. Andy Barr, R-KY, and Rep. Bill Huizenga, R-MI, the brief argues that the funding mechanism for the CFPB is unconstitutional and strips Congress of its authority over appropriations, according to a Financial Services Committee press release.
"I led an amicus brief with 131 of my colleagues challenging the @CFPB's unconstitutional funding structure,” McHenry stated in a July 11 tweet. “Federal agencies should be accountable to Congress and the American people. @HouseGOP will keep fighting to ensure rogue bureaucracies, like the CFPB, finally are."
Critics allege that the Dodd-Frank Act, which set up the CFPB, was meant to shield the agency from the general congressional appropriations process so it could sidestep legislative oversight, according to the committee’s press release.
The CFPB’s funding has been at the heart of the debate and while other agencies rely on appropriations or fees for revenues, the CFPB gets its funding from the Federal Reserve System, and critics argue this gives the agency financial autonomy with no requirement for budget approval or justification to Congress, according to court documents.
The brief filed by the legislators expresses concerns over the CFPB’s ability to amass unused funds and enact automatic inflation adjustments, giving the agency additional financial protection from congressional oversight, and undercutting the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations' ability to review spending by the agency.
The amicus brief is seeking a re-evaluation of the funding mechanism for the funding structure of the CFPB and pushes for a restoration of normal oversight that would give Congress authority over appropriations.