WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit decided in PHH Corporation v. CFPB that the President can only remove the Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) for cause instead of at will. The decision invalidates a 2016 court panel’s previous and unprecedented 2-1 ruling where two judges agreed that the CFPB Director can be removed at will instead of for cause.
Center for Responsible Lending Senior Policy Counsel Melissa Stegman released the following statement:
Today's decision by the D.C. Circuit is a victory for families harmed by financial abuses on Wall Street, and it underscores the importance of maintaining the independence of the CFPB. As an independent federal financial regulatory agency, the CFPB must remain free from outside, political interference. Unfortunately, the CFPB’s current unlawful director, Mick Mulvaney, is anything but independent and has a history of being heavily influenced by predatory lenders.
If the 2008 financial crisis showed us anything, it’s that people need an independent regulator to look after consumers and keep industry transparent and accountable to the public. Under the previous consumer bureau director, the CFPB worked tirelessly to return billions of dollars back to hardworking people across the country harmed by abusive financial practices. The court today helped preserve the independence of an important institution — we now need the CFPB to return to its original mission of putting consumers first instead of prioritizing bad financial actors as Mick Mulvaney has done.
For more information, or to arrange an interview with a CRL spokesperson on this issue, please contact Ricardo Quinto at ricardo.quinto@responsiblelending.org.