Supreme Court CFPB Case Could Dismantle Single-Director Agencies
Supreme Court CFPB Case Could Dismantle Single-Director Agencies
In an article with LexisNexis’ SNL Financial Services Daily, Morrison & Foerster senior partner Rick Fischer discussed a Supreme Court decision that will determine whether a president can fire the director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau at will, opening up the possibility that the Federal Housing Finance Agency could also be dismantled, given its single-director leadership structure.
The most likely decision is a “line-out,” which would simply remove the single line from the law that restricts a president from removing the director, an outcome that would hand more authority to the White House, according to Rick.
There’s also the possibility that the Supreme Court could find the entire agency unconstitutional, but Rick says that this is unlikely because of the turmoil it would unleash on U.S. businesses that have become accustomed to regulation by the agency.