Deputy consumer bureau chief challenges court ruling for control of agency

The deputy director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) asked a federal court Wednesday night to halt a previous ruling that cleared President Trump to appoint a temporary chief in her place.

The move by CFPB Deputy Director Leandra English is the latest maneuver in the fight for control of the agency.

English filed an injunction in the District Court for the District of Columbia to block Office of Budget and Management Director Mick Mulvaney from leading the agency.

{mosads}English’s complaint asks the court to impose her restraining order against Mulvaney after it dismissed her effort two weeks ago.

English had sued Mulvaney, who Trump appointed to lead the CFPB until the Senate confirms a permanent replacement, and the president, claiming the Dodd-Frank Act made her the rightful acting director.

The deputy director argues in the new filing that Mulvaney is ineligible to run the CFPB because of the line of succession established in Dodd-Frank. English also claims Mulvaney’s appointment violates the Federal Reserve’s independence since the CFPB was created within the Fed system and Mulvaney is a senior White House aide.

Dodd-Frank, which established the CFPB, calls for the deputy director to serve as acting director in between Senate-confirmed permanent directors.

The law’s architects, former Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) and former Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), said last week they wrote the provision explicitly to prevent the president installing a new head, acting or permanent, without Senate approval.

The White House and Department of Justice argued that Trump had the power to supersede Dodd-Frank’s line of succession through the Federal Vacancies Reform Act. That law empowers the president to appoint any Senate-confirmed administration member to be an acting head of a department or agency.

Then-CFPB Director Richard Cordray promoted English to the deputy director spot hours before he resigned from the bureau. Trump soon after appointed Mulvaney, a staunch critic of the CFPB, to lead the agency.