Leagues, CUNA and NAFCU File Brief with U.S. Supreme Court on CFPB’s Leadership, Funding Structures

The American Association of Credit Union Leagues (AACUL), the Credit Union National Association (CUNA), and the National Association of Federally-Insured Credit Unions (NAFCU) have jointly filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court as the nation's highest court is set to hear a case that might well decide the future of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

The brief highlights how the CFPB’s fundamental structures – a governance structure featuring a single director and its funding source – are different from other financial regulatory agencies. The Bureau’s availability to set its own level of funding while exercising broad rulemaking, supervisory, and enforcement authority creates a separation-of-powers problem.

Your League supports the transition of the CFPB’s leadership structure from the current single-director model to a multi-member commission. We also support subjecting the CFPB to the regular Congressional appropriations process. At present, the CFPB receives funding directly from the Federal Reserve System.

The brief argues that the Court should affirm the judgment of the Fifth Circuit, which vacated the CFPB’s payday lending rule and found the CFPB’s funding structure unconstitutional. It also argues that the Court should stay its judgment for three to six months to give Congress time to rewrite the law and change the Bureau’s funding mechanism. Finally, the brief argues that all CFPB rulemaking should be paused during the stay.