Elizabeth Warren blasts a federal court’s ‘lawless and reckless decision‘ striking down the funding mechanism for a top student-loan industry watchdog
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A federal appeals court ruled the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s funding as unconstitutional.
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The agency currently receives funding through the Federal Reserve, rather than Congress.
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Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who helped create the agency, called the ruling a “reckless decision.”
A court shaped by Republicans just ruled against a key consumer agency Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren helped shape.
On Wednesday, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)’s funding structure is unconstitutional because the Federal Reserve funds the agency, rather than requiring funding approval through Congressional legislation.
Under former President Barack Obama, Warren helped create the CFPB with the key idea that it would function as an independent agency without political influence so it could conduct oversight as effectively as possible, and this ruling could fundamentally change that.
“This is a lawless and reckless decision,” Warren wrote on Twitter. “@CFPB has returned billions of dollars to Americans by doing its job, and its funding is clearly constitutional. Extreme right-wing judges are throwing into question every rule the CFPB enforces to protect consumers and businesses alike.”