On June 28, 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court held that Congress violated the Constitution when it established the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) in a manner that permits the PCAOB to operate outside the President’s control. The decision was a victory for WLF, which filed a brief arguing that Congress’s efforts to insulate the PCAOB from the President’s control violated separation-of-powers principles. The Supreme Court agreed with WLF that the Constitution prohibited Congress from establishing the PCAOB in a manner that prevents the President from having any say in the appointment and removal of PCAOB members. The Court held that the PCAOB’s structure (its members can only be removed by the SEC “for good cause shown,” and removal of SEC commissioners by the President also requires good cause) takes effective control of the PCAOB away from the President who, under Article II of the Constitution, is supposed to control the entire Executive Branch of government.

Victory