Trump, GOP raise $86M in February

Entities raised more than $607 million since last year and have $225 million cash on hand, the RNC said, adding that February was the best month for digital fundraising since 2016.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who has led the Democratic pack in fundraising, announced his campaign hauled in more than $46 million from about 2.2 million donations in February. It's the Sanders's campaign best month yet, following wins in two early states that put him at the front of the field heading into Super Tuesday.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) also announced her campaign’s best month yet, bringing in more than $29.3 million in February. Warren saw a surge in donations after her strong performance in the Nevada debate, but she has still yet to win any of the first four primaries and caucuses.

And Joe Biden announced his campaign had its best fundraising day in the 24 hours during the South Carolina primary, bringing in $5 million as the former vice president won his first state. The win and donations could give him a needed boost to push through Super Tuesday.

https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/485413-trump-gop-raise-86m-in-february

Supreme Court to hear case over constitutionality of Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

The Supreme Court will hear arguments on Tuesday in a case over whether the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the regulatory agency established in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, is constitutionally structured.

The case, key to the future of the CFPB, could also have broad implications on other independent federal agencies, according to experts. A decision is expected by the end of June.

The dispute turns on whether the CFPB’s director is given too much independence. Under the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act, which established the regulator, the agency is headed by a single director who may be removed by the president from his or her five-year term only for “inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office.”

The CFPB also sidesteps the traditional congressional appropriations process, instead getting most of its funding from the Federal Reserve system. The funding mechanism is similar to that of other financial regulators like the Comptroller of the Currency and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

The bureau, which was envisioned by Sen. Elizabeth Warren when she was a professor at Harvard Law School, is designed to rein in abusive practices in consumer credit markets such as home mortgages and credit cards. It returned $12 billion to consumers between 2011 and 2017, but largely stopped pursuing enforcement actions under President Donald Trump.

The bureau has been the subject of a number of lawsuits but has so far proved to be resilient. The latest suit was brought by the California-based consumer law firm Seila Law, which alleged that the CFPB’s insulation from presidential control is unconstitutional. Seila Law challenged the agency after the CFPB targeted the firm in 2017 in an investigation into the marketing and sales of consumer debt-relief services.

The law firm is being supported by the Trump administration via the Department of Justice, which has submitted briefs to the top court supporting the theory that the for-cause removal provision is unconstitutional.

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/02/supreme-court-to-hear-consumer-financial-protection-bureau-case.html