May 28 (Reuters) - The U.S. Consumer Financial

Protection Bureau (CFPB) on Tuesday scored a jurisdictional

victory when a federal judge in Texas transferred to another

court in Washington an industry-backed lawsuit challenging the

agency's rule capping credit card late fees at $8.

U.S. District Judge Mark Pittman in Fort Worth moved swiftly

to transfer the lawsuit out of his courthouse for a second time

after a federal appeals court that had previously prevented him

from doing so relinquished jurisdiction on Friday.

That could give the CFPB an advantage as it defends against

a lawsuit filed by groups including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce

and the American Bankers Association who challenged a key part

of the crackdown by President Joe Biden's administration on

"junk fees".

The CFPB had fought for months to move the case out of the

federal court in Fort Worth, a venue that has become a favorite

of litigants challenging the Biden administration's agenda and

whose two active judges are Republican appointees.

The venue fight is not over. At the urging of the business

groups, the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals

early Wednesday put Pittman's latest transfer order on hold

until June 18 while the plaintiffs challenge his decision.

Maria Monaghan, senior counsel at the U.S. Chamber of

Commerce Litigation Center, in a statement welcomed the 5th

Circuit's order and said her group will "continue to take all

necessary legal action to challenge this misguided and harmful

rule."

The CFPB declined to comment.

At issue is a rule that would block card issuers with more

than 1 million open accounts from charging more than $8 for late

fees, unless they could prove higher fees are necessary to cover

their costs.

According to the CFPB, issuers collected more than $14

billion worth of credit card late fees in 2022, with an average

fee of $32.

Pittman, an appointee of Republican former President Donald

Trump, on May 10 halted the rule from taking effect.

But he did so only after a 5th Circuit panel dominated by

Trump appointees reversed an earlier decision he issued

transferring the case to the nation's capital.

Pittman's sole rationale for blocking the rule was because

the 5th Circuit had in a different case in 2022 concluded the

CFPB's funding structure was unconstitutional, which would mean

any regulations it adopted were likewise unconstitutional.

That 2022 ruling was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court on

May 16. The CFPB has said it plans to seek to have Pittman's

injunction vacated as a result, though the industry groups have

raised other, yet-to-be-addressed arguments to block the rule.

After the 5th Circuit then returned the credit card fee case

to Pittman, the CFPB on Tuesday asked Pittman to send it to

Washington once again.

He did so within three hours, saying the case chiefly

involves out-of-state plaintiffs challenging actions of

government officials in Washington. The only connection to Fort

Worth was a local plaintiff, the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce.