Vox: February 27, 2020: The Supreme Court Will Decide if Trump Can Fire the Head of the CFPB. The Implications Are Enormous
On March 3, the Supreme Court will hear Seila Law v. CFPB, which asks whether the president is allowed to fire the head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) at will. That question may seem minor and esoteric, but the stakes underlying Seila Law are enormous.
The “Seila Law” in the Seila Law case is a law firm that is being investigated by the CFPB for allegedly engaging “in unlawful acts or practices in the advertising, marketing or sale of debt relief services.”
Various federal officials, ranging from the CFPB director, to Federal Reserve governors, to members of the Federal Trade Commission, serve in independent agencies. That means that the agency’s leaders enjoy a certain amount of job security. They can be fired by the president, but only “for cause” or for “inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office.”
Though it is likely that five members of the Supreme Court will agree that the president should be allowed to fire the CFPB director, it is less clear whether the Court’s decision will have significant implications beyond the CFPB.
The short term effect of Seila Law, in other words, could potentially be very good for Democrats. As a practical matter, the Court may simply allow the next Democratic president to fire Trump’s CFPB director on day one of the new administration.
