The fate of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau appeared Tuesday to be in the hands of a U.S. Supreme Court struggling to define Congress’ authority to limit a president’s power to remove the director.

In the case Seila Law v. CFPB, which arrived from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, the justices were asked two questions: Does the restriction on removing the bureau’s director only “for cause” limit the power of the president to direct the executive branch? And if it does, can the removal provision be severed or must the entire law fall?