Ranking Member Waters' Statement Following Oral Arguments in CFPB v. CFSA

Statement

"As the Solicitor General made clear during oral arguments before the Supreme Court, Congress has broad authority to determine how federal agencies are funded. Gutting the CFPB's funding would not only be unjustified but pose enormous harm to our nation's consumers, create industry-wide levels of uncertainty that would destabilize financial markets, and have sweeping ramifications for government programs that millions of Americans count on every day, including Social Security. I urge the Justices to heed the significant consequences of constraining Congress' authority to fund the government, which would hurt consumers, our financial system and economy by, among other things, undermining the independent funding of agencies like the Federal Reserve.

The bottom line is, the CFPB and its funding is constitutional. Since the founding of our country, Congress has funded programs using a variety of mechanisms. When we passed Dodd-Frank, Congress recognized the importance of providing the CFPB a consistent funding stream, and deliberately approved its funding to come from the Federal Reserve. This decision has contributed to a widely successful agency that has protected consumers from abusive financial institutions and held bad actors accountable, as Congress intended. The CFPB has broad support across the country, with 82% of individuals, including 77% of Republicans, that support the work of the agency. Even for conservative Justices, the only sensible choice is for the Court to side with our nation's consumers, centuries of precedent, and the rule of law over extreme MAGA Republicans and their predatory lender allies."

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