CNN: March 1, 2020: Trump’s Anti-Regulatory Push Fases Major Supreme Court Test
In selecting judges for top US courts, President Donald Trump has searched for reliable conservatives who would reduce federal regulatory power over the environment and energy, worker safety and consumer affairs.
A court ruling on the President’s removal power could affect a multitude of independent agencies including the Federal Trade Commission, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and Federal Reserve Board. For more than a century, Congress has been creating such agencies within the executive branch with directors who can only be removed “for cause.” The CFPB director, for example, holds a five-year term and cannot be removed by the President except for “inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office.”
The question for the justices is whether that limit on the President’s power breaches the constitutional separation of powers. The Trump Justice Department says the CFPB setup is unconstitutional. It is siding with a California debt-services firm, Seila Law, whose practices had triggered a CFPB probe. While both the Justice Department and Seila Law say the President should have more control over CFBP, they differ on the fate of the full agency. (Seila Law says it should be struck down; the administration would preserve it, but with more presidential control.)
