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DC Circuit Court Releases HUGE Decision Destroying A Key Obama Policy

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Oct 11, 2016 DailyWire.com

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The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit just released a huge decision that struck a blow to one of President Barack Obama’s key policies.

The court ruled that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) agency, which was established under the Dodd-Frank law, violated the Constitution “because its director isn’t sufficiently answerable to the president,” reports the Wall Street Journal. Prior to the ruling, the director could only be removed if the president determined there was “cause” for removal, which allowed the CFPB to be the sole arbiter in enforcing laws in the financial sector.

“The CFPB’s concentration of enormous executive power in a single, unaccountable, unchecked Director not only departs from settled historical practice, but also poses a far greater risk of arbitrary decision-making and abuse of power, and a far greater threat to individual liberty, than does a multi-member independent agency,” wrote Judge Brett Kavanaugh in the majority opinion.

The majority opinion also read: “In light of the consistent historical practice under which independent agencies have been headed by multiple commissioners or board members, and in light of the threat to individual liberty posed by a single-Director independent agency….We therefore hold that the CFPB is unconstitutionally structured.”

However, the court still allowed for the existence of the CFPB since it would be easier for the president to remove the director and influence the direction of the agency.

“The president is a check on and accountable for the actions of those executive agencies, and the president now will be a check on and accountable for the actions of the CFPB as well,” wrote the majority.

The court also struck down the CFPB’s $109 million fine against mortgage lender PHH, as the mortgage lender had been “accused of illegally taking kickbacks in exchange for referring consumers to mortgage insurers.” The fine had increased when PHH appealed the CFPB’s penalty. The court determined that the agency “acted, at least in part, outside the statute of limitations,” according to NPR.

It’s also worth noting that Congress has no way to hold the CFPB accountable, as its funding comes from the Federal Reserve.

For more excerpts from the ruling, here are the following tweets: