Skip to main content

Pelosi Statement on Amicus Brief in PHH Corp. v. the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

March 31, 2017

Contact: Ashley Etienne/Caroline Behringer, 202-226-7616

Washington, D.C. – Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, who as Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives shepherded the Dodd-Frank Act into enactment, issued the following statement today on joining an en banc amicus brief filed with the D.C. Court of Appeals which will rehear a divided three-judge panel decision finding the CFPB's leadership structure unconstitutional and severing the provision that made the Director of the CFPB removable only for cause:

"The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was designed by Congress to have the independence to protect consumers from the against the unfair, deceptive and abusive financial marketplace practices that ignited the last financial meltdown. In its short history, the CFPB has provided more than $12 billion in restitution for more than 29 million consumers and servicemembers harmed by violations of financial consumer protection laws.

"Under the Constitution, Congress has considerable latitude to shape the structure of independent agencies. The CFBP's independence is critical to its role as a watchdog for consumers, shielded from Wall Street's vast political influence. Allowing the Administration to replace the Director of the CFBP for any reason beside cause would give the special interests the ability to silence one of American consumers' greatest guardians.

"The CFBP is a vital bulwark against allowing Wall Street to prey on working families again. While the Trump Administration wasted no time in putting its Wall Street friends first, House Democrats remain unyielding in our commitment to protect America's hard-working families."

# # #