WASHINGTON, DC – Following oral argument at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia this afternoon in National Treasury Employees Union v. Vought, a case in which the court is considering whether the Trump administration’s efforts to unilaterally shut down the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) are constitutional, Constitutional Accountability Center Equal Justice Works Fellow Anna Jessurun issued this reaction:

As the government conceded at oral argument today, the President cannot unilaterally shut down the CFPB without violating the Constitution. Citing CAC’s brief on behalf on current and former Members of Congress, counsel for the plaintiffs underscored that the power to create, restructure, and eliminate federal agencies is Congress’s power alone, and the President’s efforts to shutter the CFPB unlawfully intrude on Congress’s Article I powers and violate the Constitution’s bedrock principle of separation of powers. The D.C. Circuit should block the administration’s actions to shutter the agency and uphold Congress’s plenary power over the existence and structure of federal agencies.

CAC Chief Counsel Brianne Gorod added this reaction:

Congress created the CFPB in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis to protect America’s consumers and help ensure that another such crisis does not occur again. Its decision to do so is a quintessential example of Congress exercising its power over executive offices to provide for the welfare of the American people.

Since the CFPB was created, it has been remarkably successful at protecting America’s consumers. Indeed, without the CFPB, there would be no federal regulator charged with making sure that banks comply with the rules protecting consumers from deceptive practices. Shuttering the CFPB or reducing it in size to the point that it is incapable of fulfilling its statutory mandates would thus not only harm American consumers, but also would cause significant regulatory disruptions, undermining Congress’s plan in establishing the CFPB in the first place.

If President Trump wants to shut down the CFPB, the Constitution requires that he go to Congress and get it to give him the authority to do that. Notably, he has not done so.