Giving the president the ability to remove at will the consumer bureau’s director — currently Richard Cordray, who was appointed
by President Barack Obama — would be a sufficient remedy, Justice Department lawyers wrote in an amicus brief.
Ari Karen, a lawyer who represents financial companies, said the Justice Department’s move to support PHH “is a sign of bigger things to come.” If the court granted the president the power to fire Mr. Cordray at will, he
and others expected that Mr. Trump would do so immediately.
“There is no evidence that Congress would have preferred no bureau at all to a bureau
whose director was removable at will,” Justice Department lawyers wrote in the brief.
The Justice Department brief was filed as part of continuing litigation between the PHH Corporation, a mortgage lender,
and the consumer bureau, which in 2015 levied a $109 million fine against the company over what the agency said were illegal kickbacks.
Argues -
By STACY COWLEYMARCH 17, 2017
The Justice Department on Friday took the rare step of opposing another federal agency, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, in court, arguing
that the bureau’s structure is unconstitutional and should be changed.