In the Times's DealBook. Excerpt:
Conservative lawyers have been muttering about the constitutionality of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau for years, but their best argument is pretty novel.
It is a “death by a thousand cuts” separation of powers claim. The idea is that if you count up all the ways that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has been given unfettered authority to regulate the way that financial services are provided to consumers, you get an agency that is not controlled by Congress or the president.
That, in turn, is inconsistent with our baseline separation of powers principles, where Congress guides agencies by passing laws and appropriating budgets, and the president makes sure that they are executing on their missions.
