Assignment task:
PHH Corporation v. CFPB
Back in the real world, PHH Corp., a mortgage lender, has brought suit challenging the political insulation of the CFPB's Director against presidential control. Recall that CFPB is a new federal agency responsible for protecting consumers in the financial and banking sectors. Like many other independent agencies, the CFPB's highest-ranking official is appointed for a fixed term of years and removable by the President only for good cause. Unlike any other independent agency, the CFPB is headed by a single director (as opposed to a multi-member board) with final and sole authority to decide what rules to issue; how to enforce the law, when to enforce it, and against whom; and what sanctions and penalties to impose on violators of the law. The Director exercises this authority with respect to 19 separate consumer protection statutes, covering everything from home finance to student loans to credit cards to banking practices. PHH argues that the vesting of this much power in a single official, as opposed to a multi-member board (whose members serve as checks on one another) impermissibly interferes with the President's Article II authority to take care that the laws are faithfully executed. Is this challenge likely to succeed?