Consumers need this watchdog agency. Don’t let Congress defang it.

Through enactment of Dodd-Frank, Congress wisely consolidated consumer protection within the CFPB and shielded it from the finance lobby’s influence over annual congressional appropriations. These features are essential for the consumer bureau to do its job. Unless Congress is nostalgic for rampant predatory lending, it should not defang this consumer watchdog absent a Supreme Court decision requiring such an unprecedented result.