Federal Appeals Court Rules That CFPB Structure Is Constitutional

An en banc panel of the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled that the current single-member structure of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ("CFPB") is constitutional. The 7-3 majority ruling overturns a 2016 ruling that the structure of the agency – providing for a five-year term for the Director, and allowing the President to remove the Director only for cause – violates the Constitution's separation of powers.

In reversing the decision, Judge Cornelia Pillard, writing for the Court, held that the "for-cause" provision is "consistent with the President's constitutional authority" and supports the ability of the CFPB to exist as an independent agency with a single director unable to be removed at will by the President. By permitting the President to remove a Director for "inefficiency, neglect, or malfeasance in office," the Court found that the structure of the agency provides the President with "ample tools to ensure the faithful execution of the