Supreme Court rules Consumer Financial Protection Bureau funding structure is legal

The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that the funding structure of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is legal.

The court rejected an argument that the CFPB’s funding method violated the U.S. Constitution’s Appropriations Clause because Congress had not annually authorized money for the agency. Instead, Congress authorized the CFPB to draw funding from the Federal Reserve system that the agency’s director deems necessary for its work.

The 7-2 ruling, whose majority opinion was written by Justice Clarence Thomas, a conservative, reversed a decision by the 5th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.

Three other conservatives, and the court’s three liberal justices, joined in the majority opinion. The court’s two remaining conservative justices, Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch, dissented.

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