On February 28, more than 200 members of Congress filed an amicus brief in support of the plaintiffs, a union representing CFPB employees, in their motion for a preliminary injunction against CFPB Acting Director Russell Vought (complaint covered in InfoBytes here; preliminary injunction here). The amicus brief supported the union’s motion for a preliminary injunction against several actions taken by Vought, including to terminate agency staff and suspend agency operations.
The proposed amicus brief argued Congress exercised its Article I power to create the CFPB and to require the CFPB to perform specific statutory functions, including interpreting and enforcing consumer protection laws, supervising financial institutions, and to address consumer complaints, among other things. Instead of “normal personnel decisions” that accompany administration transition, the brief argued Vought had “taken swift action to . . . dismantle the Bureau in its entirety.” This, the brief contended, was “a brazen violation of both Dodd-Frank and the Constitution’s fundamental principle of separation of powers.” The brief concluded the CFPB was “uniquely situated to protect consumers and guard against the predatory practices that led to the 2008 financial crisis . . . [thus] dismantling the CFPB would thus threaten a return to the financial and economic conditions that led to that meltdown.”
