Supreme Court rejects broad challenge to consumer watchdog CFPB

The Supreme Court on Thursday rejected a broad challenge to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, reversing a lower-court ruling that would have undermined the watchdog agency Congress created in the wake of the financial crisis to protect borrowers from predatory lenders, junk fees and other abuses.

In a 7-2 decision written by Justice Clarence Thomas, the court said the CFPB’s funding mechanism is constitutional. The agency draws its budget through profits of the Federal Reserve, not an annual appropriation by Congress.