A federal appeals court today will consider whether the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) that was created after the 2008 financial crisis is constitutional, and whether the president has the authority to fire its director at will, the Wall Street Journal reported. The oral argument presents an opportunity for the Trump administration to lay out its case for curtailing the power of the CFPB, an independent agency fighting to keep its current structure headed by a single director. The hearing by the full bench of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit comes after a three-judge panel of the same court ruled in October that the bureau’s structure was unconstitutional and gave the president the power to fire its director for any reason. After a request from the CFPB, the appeals court vacated the panel’s ruling and scheduled a hearing by more judges. Currently, the CFPB chief can be removed only for “inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance,” a provision designed by a Democratic-controlled Congress to ensure the agency’s independence.
