The judge assigned to the case filed by the US Chamber of Commerce and other groups against the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau that challenges the regulator’s new credit card late fee rule recused himself late last week, and the case was then assigned to a judge considered to be just as conservative as his predecessor.
The move is part of a series of developments in the case, most of which have more to do with where the case was filed than anything related to the substance of the suit itself.
A consumer group on Thursday released a report detailing how Judge Reed O’Connor, who was originally assigned to the case, had invested tens of thousands of dollars in companies that issue credit cards. The investments were included in Judge O’Connor’s financial disclosures, which detailed stock holdings for Capital One, a credit card issuer and Chamber of Commerce member, and Visa. O’Connor, an appointee of former President George W. Bush, had a track record of ruling in favor of conservative litigants.
But so does the judge who was assigned to the case after Judge O’Connor announced his recusal. Judge Mark T. Pittman, who was appointed by former President Donald Trump, will now oversee the case. Pittman also has a track record that is considered to be very conservative.
The CFB has accused the plaintiffs of forum shopping by filing this case in the Northern District of Texas, adding the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce and one of its members, Synchrony Financial, as a means of establishing jurisdiction. Synchrony is the only member of the Fort Worth Chamber that has at least 1 million credit card accounts, according to the Bureau.
The Chamber has had success against the CFPB in Texas. Another judge ruled in favor of the Chamber and other plaintiffs in a case accusing the CFPB of overstepping its authority with respect to changes it was looking to make to its supervisory activities.
The Bureau is seeking to enact a rule
