Democratic Sens. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and 45 members of the Democratic caucus, as well as 180 House Democrats, filed an amicus brief in NTEU v. CFPB, condemning the mass firings at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

The National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) filed a complaint against the CFPB in March, requesting a preliminary injunction to stop the mass firings and other actions by interim leadership at the bureau.

In the brief, the Congressmembers argued that Congress created the CFPB to combat the abuses that caused the 2008 financial crisis, and the president does not have the power to abolish it. 

“President Trump’s entire slash-and-burn agenda is geared toward making life better for billionaires and big banks and worse for working families,” Schumer said in a release. “The CFPB was created to protect everyday consumers from predatory financial practices, but President Trump is dead set on reversing course and putting his thumb on the scale for big banks. Gutting staff at CFPB is only the beginning – Trump has proven he wants to eliminate the CFPB altogether. We urge the courts to recognize it is only Congress – not the President – who has control over CFPB and reject this administration’s unlawful power grab.”

In the 54-page amicus brief, the Congressmembers state Congress established the CFPB after the 2008 recession “with the sole mission of protecting Americans from harmful practices of the financial services industry.”

“Since its creation, the CFPB has successfully protected consumers from unfair and predatory practices in the financial services industry. Yet appellants now seek to effectively shutter the bureau,” the brief stated. “… Wherever the precise line may be between the sorts of routine changes in policies and priorities that occur from one administration to another and the evisceration of an agency’s ability to perform its statutory mandates, appellants have crossed it: ‘firing all probationary and term-limited employees without cause, cutting off funding, terminating contracts, closing all of the offices, and implementing a reduction in force … that would cover everyone else.’

“Appellants’ actions infringe on Congress’s legislative powers and in so doing violate the Constitution’s separation of powers … . Appellants cite no constitutional or statutory power authorizing their steps toward eliminating the bureau against Congress’s express wishes because there is none. This court should affirm the preliminary injunction.”