The CFPB has protected consumers. The Supreme Court could toss its work.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau should be seen as a wild success. Over its 12 years of existence, it has been responsible for returning more than $17 billion to Americans separated from their money by financial sector shenanigans.

Instead of being able to celebrate that achievement, the agency is in a fight for its life — and if it loses, we’ll all be poorer for it.

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court will hear a case filed by a trade group of payday-loan lenders against the CFPB. Last year, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit — considered by many the most right-wing court in the country — agreed with the plaintiffs’ argument that the funding mechanism for the agency is unconstitutional.