Washington (CNN) The Supreme Court agreed Friday to take up a case this term that could significantly weaken the structure and independence of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, a government watchdog agency that was the brainchild of Elizabeth Warren and opened its doors in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis during the Obama administration to oversee financial institutions, monitor markets and protect consumers from financial fraud.

The law that established the CFPB says the President may not remove the director except for "inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office."

But critics -- including the Trump administration, current director Kathleen Kraninger , as well as a law firm fighting a CFPB-led investigation -- argue in court briefs that a restriction on the President's authority to remove the director at will, including over policy disagreements, "violates the Constitution's separation of powers."

In a move that could prove critical, the court also said it will entertain the question of whether the provision of the Dodd-Frank Act that created the bureau should also be struck.

That move "radically ratchets up the stakes of what was already a high-stakes separation-of-powers dispute," said Steve Vladeck, CNN Supreme Court analyst and professor at the University of Texas School of Law.

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