The CFPB Goes to Court Tuesday. What's at Risk?

Credit unions are supporting payday lenders who will argue before Supreme Court that its independent funding is unconstitutional.

By Jim DuPlessis | September 29, 2023

The CFPB and its opponents will make their oral arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court Tuesday in a case that credit unions say is a mere rearranging of its funding.

However, consumer advocates say a court ruling supporting the payday lenders who brought the suit will not only undercut the CFPB, but expose a wide swath of other agencies to similar attacks, including the NCUA.

Anyone listening to arguments Tuesday at 10 a.m. EST might want to pay special attention to how justices respond to arguments about “double insulation,” whether Congress violated the Constitution’s Appropriations Clause when it created the CFPB in 2010, and whether the Supreme Court would be violating the separation of powers by telling Congress how it must appropriate.

More on those issues below. First, some history.

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