Numerous experts, commenters and observers are under the assumption that President-elect Trump will have to let the courts reach a definitive legal decision on the PHH Corp. v. CFPB litigation before deciding whether to remove CFPB Director Richard Cordray without cause. However, that’s not the case, according to Aditya Bamzai, associate professor of law at the University of Virginia School of Law. In a recent online blog post, Bamzai said the (sometimes unstated) premise in various articles and reports is that the CFPB’s pending challenge to the panel decision somehow prevents any attempt to oust Cordray. “Such a premise appears to rest on two mistaken assumptions: that the president cannot exercise his removal authority absent an Article III judgment authorizing ...