From: Forbes | Opinion
Susan E. Dudley, Contributor
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit yesterday struck down as unconstitutional a key provision of the Dodd-Frank Act. The court ruled that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) “is unconstitutionally structured because it is an independent agency headed by a single Director.” Its remedy was to remove the agency’s independence, subjecting its director to the supervision of the president. The ruling is a victory for individual liberty, accountability and the rule of law.
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As I observed in an April column (Is the CFPB Unconstitutional?), other federal regulatory bodies are established either as 1) departments or agencies within the executive branch or 2) independent commissions. Executive branch agencies, such as the Department of Transportation or the Environmental Protection Agency, are answerable to the President, and must submit their regulations to the Office of Management and Budget Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) in the Executive Office of the President for review before issuing them. Independent regulatory agencies, such as the Securities and Exchange Commission or the Federal Communications Commission, generally are headed by a bipartisan commission, whose members are appointed to specific terms by the President, and confirmed by Congress.
