Today, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), the top Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, penned an opinion piece for the American Banker, following the Supreme Court’s ruling in Consumer Financial Protection Bureau v. Community Financial Services Association to uphold the constitutionality of the CFPB’s funding structure. In the op-ed, Congresswoman Waters highlights the important role the CFPB has played for more than a decade to protect our nation’s consumers, and pokes holes in the extremist argument brought before the Court. Despite this victory, as Waters notes, the attacks against the CFPB won’t stop here and Democrats will continue the work to protect the agency.

See excerpts below: 

“In 2022, a panel of right-wing, conservative judges on the radical U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit ruled that the agency's funding structure was unconstitutional in contradiction to every other court that ruled on the matter. Soon after, the Supreme Court agreed to hear the case. Immediately, I jumped into action and worked with Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, to lead 144 former and current congressional Democrats in submitting an amicus brief defending the CFPB's constitutional funding structure and urging them to make the right decision.

“Despite a massive misinformation campaign by the agency's opponents, even a conservative Supreme Court was able to see through the smoke and mirrors of their baseless arguments and avoid harming our nation's consumers. If the Supreme Court chose to rule in favor of the payday lenders, we would have seen industrywide levels of uncertainty that would have destabilized consumer financial markets and created sweeping ramifications for many other government agencies and programs that millions of Americans count on every day.

“Following the ruling, we've seen and heard the statements from congressional Republicans expressing their disappointment and vowing to continue their attempts to rein in the agency. In fact, just a few hours after the ruling, House Republicans wasted no time, advancing yet another bill through the House Financial Services Committee to hamstring the CFPB. I would urge my colleagues to stop and read not only the ruling, but also the Constitution, which makes crystal clear that Congress can fund the executive branch, including the CFPB, banking regulators, and other agencies however it likes, and has done so since the nation's founding. But if they can't do that, the least they can do is listen to their constituents who are tired of the junk fees and being ripped off by financial institutions. In fact, four out of five Americans support the CFPB and its mission, including 77% of Republicans.”

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