Dem
47
GOP
53
The banks hate the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which prevents them from robbing their customers blind. So they tossed some money into Donald Trump's pay-to-play pot last year and bingo, he wants to abolish the CFPB. He tried, but CFPB employees sued and a lower court wouldn't let him fire them. The government appealed. On Friday, the panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for D.C. ruled 2-1 that the employees' case was flawed and Trump could dismantle the agency. Two Trump appointees, Judges Gregory Katsas and Neomi Rao, voted for Trump. Judge Cornelia Pillard, an Obama appointee, dissented. Katsas wrote the opinion, in which he said the employees' mistake was a broad challenge against shuttering the agency altogether. He reasoned that shuttering an agency was not a decision for the judicial system to make. What Katsas didn't bother to mention is that an agency created by Congress can only be terminated by Congress, not by the president. We guess he just forgot.
The employees can ask for an en banc ruling by the entire appeals court, or go directly to the Supreme Court. (V)