“As I understand it there are agencies that are partially self-funded through fines collected going directly into their budgets and not appropriated by Congress, e.g. EPA, OSHA.
Is that constitutional without those funds first going through the Treasury and then being appropriated?”
You are correct. And I would argue that all receipts should go directly to the treasury, to then be re-doled out.
Slightly different issue though, since the CFPB was intentionally set up to be funded through the Fed, and NOT through the Congress.
If suit was brought, it could be argued I imagine that such funds should not be used for operational purposes and could not be allocated without the permission of the Congress.
The origin of that provision of the Constitution was the British paying royal governors and then colonial judges out of the new taxes that were being laid by the British Parliament, rather than the governors and judges being paid by the people through their assemblies. It is imperative that the people, through their representatives, maintain oversight over ALL parts of THEIR government.
Yes, this just brought the funding through fines issue to mind.
The agengy’s profit from fining creates perverse incentives. I worked with someone who had been an OSHA inspector in a previous job. He told me about how he was reprimanded after he told companies how to correct deficiencies prior to an inspection.
Apparently revenue is more important to OSHA than a safe workplace.