Today, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), the top Democrat on the House Financial Service Committee released this statement following oral arguments this week in Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) v. Community Financial Services Association of America (CFSA), regarding the constitutionality of the agency’s independent funding structure.

“As the Solicitor General made clear during oral arguments before the Supreme Court, Congress has broad authority to determine how federal agencies are funded. Gutting the CFPB’s funding would not only be unjustified but pose enormous harm to our nation’s consumers, create industry-wide levels of uncertainty that would destabilize financial markets, and have sweeping ramifications for government programs that millions of Americans count on every day, including Social Security. I urge the Justices to heed the significant consequences of constraining Congress’ authority to fund the government, which would hurt consumers, our financial system and economy by, among other things, undermining the independent funding of agencies like the Federal Reserve. 

“The bottom line is, the CFPB and its funding is constitutional. Since the founding of our country, Congress has funded programs using a variety of mechanisms. When we passed Dodd-Frank, Congress recognized the importance of providing the CFPB a consistent funding stream, and deliberately approved its funding to come from the Federal Reserve.  This decision has contributed to a widely successful agency that has protected consumers from abusive financial institutions and held bad actors accountable, as Congress intended. The CFPB has broad support across the country, with 82% of individuals, including 77% of Republicans, that support the work of the agency. Even for conservative Justices, the only sensible choice is for the Court to side with our nation’s consumers, centuries of precedent, and the rule of law over extreme MAGA Republicans and their predatory lender allies.”

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Background:

• On September 15, 2023, on the 15th anniversary of the collapse of Lehman Brothers, Ranking Member Waters wrote an op-ed on the importance of protecting the CFPB in order to prevent another catastrophic financial crisis.
  
  
• On May 15, 2023, Ranking Member Waters and Senate Banking Committee Chairman Sherrod Brown led 44 current and former members of Congress in filing an amicus brief in the Supreme Court defending the CFPB.
  
  
• On March 24, 2023, Ranking Member Waters released a statement applauding the Second Circuit Court of Appeals’ ruling that the CFPB funding structure is constitutional.
  
  
• On March 9, 2023, Ranking Member Waters released a joint statement with Senate Banking Committee Chairman Sherrod Brown blasting House Republicans’ attempt to undermine the CFPB after releasing a series of harmful bills.
  
  
• On February 28, 2023, Ranking Member Waters released a statement following the Supreme Court’s decision to review the Fifth Circuit’s ruling.