And in one Ruling 2020In , the five Republican nominees then serving on the Supreme Court struck down a provision in the law Congress had passed to create the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. That provision protected the bureau’s head from being removed by a president without good cause, such as misconduct.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Friday’s decision is the latest example of the Supreme Court blocking “common-sense rules that keep us safe, protect our health and the environment, protect our financial system, and support American consumers and workers.”
However, the court has not always gone as far as the liberals wanted. Earlier this term, the court rejected a challenge to how the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is funded. Rejecting it would have opened the door to lawsuits seeking to nullify all regulations and enforcement actions it has taken in its 13 years of existence, including those related to mortgages, credit cards, consumer lending and banking.
Although the overthrow of Chevron is now the capstone of the conservative legal movement’s assault on the administrative state, it may not be the end of the story. More extreme opponents of regulation hope that the court will one day embrace a sweeping version of the so-called non-delegation doctrine.
Under that view, the Constitution does not allow Congress to delegate its legislative power to executive agencies. If so, all rules should be struck down, because the only way society can impose a legally binding rule on business interests is if Congress specifically passes one through a statute.