ADVERTISEMENT Justices' FHFA Ruling Is Small Step In A Dangerous Direction Law360 (June 24, 2021, 5:59 PM EDT) -- In Collins v. Yellen, the U.S. Supreme Court invalidated for-cause removal protection for the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency. In doing so, it sidestepped statutory restrictions on lawsuits brought by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac shareholders and encouraged private parties to bring litigation aimed at weakening the independence of federal agencies. President Joe Biden immediately took advantage of the ruling by dismissing the director of the FHFA, a Trump administration holdover.[1] This litigation, however, appears unlikely to produce any relief to the government-sponsored enterprises' shareholders, who had brought suit. They had challenged the FHFA's third amendment to its preferred...