CUNA expresses disappointment in SCOTUS CFPB Decision

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE   
June 29, 2020
Washington, DC

CONTACT:          
Lauren Williams        
CUNA Communications        
202-672-3396

CUNA expresses disappointment in SCOTUS CFPB Decision

CUNA President/CEO Jim Nussle expressed disappointment in today’s decision by the U.S. Supreme Court in Seila Law v. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), which found the CFPB’s structure to be unconstitutional but severed the “for cause” removal provision from the rest of the Dodd-Frank Act.

“We are disappointed in the court’s decision. Proponents of the Bureau sought to create an independent consumer regulator but the entity they established was independent only of the minority political party. Today’s ruling cements the Bureau’s political dependence and subjects consumers and covered entities to wildly severe swings on the regulatory pendulum. Whichever party holds the White House won today; everyone else lost. We call on Congress to put consumer protection ahead of political whimsy by creating a bipartisan multimember commission that can create tempered, transparent policies at the Bureau.”

Under the Court’s ruling, the CFPB Director may be removed by the president at will, leaving in place a single director that serves at the pleasure of the president, and putting consumer protection behind the political ideology of the ruling party. CUNA has long advocated for the agency to reflect the structure laid out in the initial drafts of the Dodd Frank Act, which laid out a bipartisan multimember commission. In his decision, Chief Justice John Roberts noted a multimember commission established by Congress would be a remedy to the CFPB's constitutional defects. 

CUNA filed an amicus brief in this case calling on the Court to force Congress to address this issue, and most recently supported efforts in the House and Senate that would create this commission structure within the CFPB.

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About CUNA:           
Credit Union National Association (CUNA) is the only national association that advocates on behalf of all of America’s credit unions, which are owned by 115 million consumer members. CUNA, along with its network of affiliated state credit union leagues, delivers unwavering advocacy, continuous professional growth and operational confidence to protect the best interests of all credit unions. For more information about CUNA, visit cuna.org. To find your nearest credit union, visit YourMoneyFurther.com.