In a 7-2 decision, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s (“FHFA”) statutory structure, which protected its director from being removed from position “only for cause”, violated the Constitution’s separation of powers. Writing for the majority in Collins, et al. v. Yellen, et al., Nos. 19-422 and 19-563, Justice Alito found that “the Constitution prohibits even ‘modest restrictions’ on the President’s power to remove the head of an agency with a single top officer.” The Supreme Court found this structure to violate the Constitution and reasoned that “the President must be able to remove not just officers who disobey his commands but also those he finds to be negligent and inefficient[.]” Hours after the Supreme Court rendered its ruling, President Biden removed FHFA’s Director, Mark Calabria.
Continue Reading Agency Director Ousted Immediately Following the Supreme Court’s Ruling that the FHFA’s Structure to be Unconstitutional