Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2024
Abstract
The standard federal agency must come to Congress each year, hat in hand, and request another round of congressional funding. This annual appropriations process ensures that Congress maintains at least some influence over the vast array of rules and regulations that govern Americans' daily lives. Sure, Congress might have delegated broad authority to administrative agencies to develop national policy on Congress's behalf. But an agency reliant on annual appropriations is an agency with the financial incentive to exercise its delegated authority with an eye toward pleasing congressional appropriators. The annual appropriations process is therefore a sensible (even if insufficient) step toward ensuring democratic oversight of how taxpayer dollars are spent. But in Washington, sensibility does not often win the day. And so it is little surprise that, when it came to designing the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), Congress sought to do things a bit differently.
Recommended Citation
Chad Squitieri, "Appropriate" Appropriations Challenges after Community Financial, 2024 Cato Sup. Ct. Rev. 73 (2024).
