Patrick McHenryChairman

Washington, March 2, 2018 -

WASHINGTON – Today, 38 Senators and 75 Representatives, led by Senate Banking Committee Chairman Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) and House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas), filed an amicus brief in support of Acting Director Mulvaney and the President’s authority to designate an Acting Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) under the Federal Vacancies Reform Act (FVRA).

“The Federal Vacancies Reform Act has been U.S. law for 20 years,” said Chairman Crapo. “If Congress wanted to supersede the Vacancies Reform Act, and prevent a president from appointing an Acting Director, it could have done so in the text of Dodd-Frank. But, Congress chose not to. I have long argued that the CFPB lacks sufficient accountability, but Director Mulvaney has so far made the Bureau more accountable and transparent, while also fulfilling its mission of protecting consumers. It is in the public’s best interest for him to serve until the nomination and confirmation of a permanent Director.”

“For nearly two decades, the President has had the authority to appoint an interim director under the Federal Vacancies Act,” said Chairman Hensarling. “It’s what the Justice Department says, and it’s what the CFPB’s own General Counsel - an Obama appointee - says. Director Mulvaney continues to be an outstanding Acting Director as he restores true and meaningful accountability and due process of law to an agency that desperately needs it. After all, the problem with the CFPB isn’t who’s running it, the problem is the CFPB and its creator, the Dodd-Frank Act.”

The brief argues that the text of the Federal Vacancies Reform Act (FVRA) authorizes the President to designate the CFPB’s Acting Director, and this authority is not superseded by Title X of the Dodd-Frank Act. It also argues that the Plaintiff’s position risks presidential encroachment on the advice and consent power of Congress; that the Court should avoid Constitutional issues presented by the Plaintiff; and that the Plaintiff’s requested preliminary relief is not in the public interest. 

Link to brief.

LIST OF MEMBERS OF CONGRESS SIGNATORS:

Senator Mike Crapo (R-Idaho)

Representative Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas)

Senator John Barrasso (R-Wyoming)

Senator Roy Blunt (R-Missouri)

Senator John Boozman (R-Arkansas)

Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-West Virginia)

Senator Bill Cassidy (R-Louisiana)

Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine)

Senator Bob Corker (R-Tennessee)

Senator John Cornyn (R-Texas)

Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas)

Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas)

Senator Steve Daines (R-Montana)

Senator Mike Enzi (R-Wyoming)

Senator Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina)

Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) 

Senator Dean Heller (R-Nevada)

Senator John Hoeven (R-North Dakota)

Senator Jim Inhofe (R-Oklahoma)

Senator Johnny Isakson (R-Georgia)

Senator Ron Johnson (R-Wisconsin)

Senator John Kennedy (R-Louisiana)

Senator James Lankford (R-Oklahoma)

Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah)

Senator Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky)

Senator Jerry Moran (R-Kansas)

Senator David Perdue (R-Georgia)

Senator Rob Portman (R-Ohio)

Senator Jim Risch (R-Idaho)

Senator Pat Roberts (R-Kansas)

Senator M. Michael Rounds (R-South Dakota)

Senator Marco Rubio (R-Florida)

Senator Ben Sasse (R-Nebraska)

Senator Tim Scott (R-South Carolina)

Senator Richard Shelby (R-Alabama)

Senator Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska)

Senator Thom Tillis (R-North Carolina)

Senator Pat Toomey (R-Pennsylvania)

Senator Roger Wicker (R-Mississippi)

Representative Jodey Arrington (R-Texas)

Representative Brian Babin (R-Texas)

Representative Andy Barr (R-Kentucky)

Representative Joe Barton (R-Texas)

Representative Diane Black (R-Tennessee)

Representative Marsha Blackburn (R-Tennessee)

Representative Dave Brat (R-Virginia)

Representative Ted Budd (R-North Carolina)

Representative Michael C. Burgess, M.D. (R-Texas)

Representative Bradley Byrne (R-Alabama)

Representative Buddy Carter (R-Georgia)

Representative Chris Collins (R-New York)

Representative Paul Cook (R-California)

Representative Warren Davidson (R-Ohio)

Representative Ron DeSantis (R-Florida)

Representative Scott DesJarlais (R-Tennessee)

Representative Daniel Donovan (R-New York)

Representative Sean Duffy (R-Wisconsin)

Representative Jeff Duncan (R-South Carolina)

Representative Tom Emmer (R-Minnesota)

Representative John Faso (R-New York)

Representative Matt Gaetz (R-Florida)

Representative Bob Gibbs (R-Ohio)

Representative Bob Goodlatte (R-Virginia)

Representative Paul A. Gosar D.D.S. (R-Arizona)

Representative Trey Gowdy (R-South Carolina)

Representative Sam Graves (R-Missouri)

Representative Tom Graves (R-Georgia)

Representative H. Morgan Griffith (R-Virginia)

Representative Karen Handel (R-Georgia)

Representative Andy Harris, M.D. (R-Maryland)

Representative Jody Hice (R-Georgia)

Representative French Hill (R-Arkansas)

Representative Trey Hollingsworth (R-Indiana)

Representative Bill Huizenga (R-Michigan)

Representative Randy Hultgren (R-Illinois)

Representative Duncan D. Hunter (R-California)

Representative Mike Kelly (R-Pennsylvania)

Representative David Kustoff (R-Tennessee)

Representative Raúl Labrador (R-Idaho)

Representative Barry Loudermilk (R-Georgia)

Representative Mia Love (R-Utah)

Representative Frank Lucas (R-Oklahoma)

Representative Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-Missouri)

Representative Tom MacArthur (R-New Jersey)

Representative Patrick McHenry (R-North Carolina)

Representative David B. McKinley, P.E. (R-West Virginia)

Representative Mark Meadows (R-North Carolina)

Representative Luke Messer (R-Indiana)

Representative Alex Mooney (R-West Virginia)

Representative Ralph Norman (R-South Carolina)

Representative Pete Olson (R-Texas)

Representative Steve Pearce (R-New Mexico)

Representative Scott Perry (R-Pennsylvania)

Representative Robert Pittenger (R-North Carolina)

Representative Bruce Poliquin (R-Maine)

Representative Bill Posey (R-Florida)

Representative John Ratcliffe (R-Texas)

Representative David P. Roe, M.D. (R-Tennessee)

Representative Todd Rokita (R-Indiana)

Representative Dennis Ross (R-Florida)

Representative Keith Rothfus (R-Pennsylvania)

Representative Ed Royce (R-California)

Representative John Shimkus (R-Illinois)

Representative Adrian Smith (R-Nebraska)

Representative Steve Stivers (R-Ohio)

Representative Claudia Tenney (R-New York)

Representative Scott Tipton (R-Colorado)

Representative David Trott (R-Michigan)

Representative Ann Wagner (R-Missouri)

Representative Roger Williams (R-Texas)

Representative Steve Womack (R-Arkansas)

Representative Ted Yoho (R-Florida)