Judge denies CFPB official’s injunction against Mulvaney

A U.S. district judge on Wednesday denied an injunction filed against acting Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Mick Mulvaney, effectively ruling that Mulvaney may remain the acting head of the agency.

U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly denied the request for an injunction, arguing Leandra English “has not demonstrated a likelihood of success on the merits or shown that she will suffer irreparable injury absent injunctive relief,” according to a court document.

{mosads}English filed the lawsuit in November after President Trump had appointed Mulvaney to serve as the CFPB’s temporary director. Mulvaney’s appointment came after former Director Richard Cordray stepped down to launch a gubernatorial bid in Ohio.

Cordray had appointed English, the CFPB’s deputy director, to take his position, setting up a battle between the agency and the Trump White House.

In the lawsuit, English argued that the president supplanted the agency’s line of succession outlined by the Dodd-Frank Act. 

The court, however, found that the Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998 (FVRA) provides the president with the authority to appoint an acting head of the agency.

The two statutes should “be read harmoniously,” according to the court, which also argued that while Dodd-Frank outlines the succession, the president may overrule and appoint an acting director.

“The best reading of the two statutes is that Dodd-Frank requires that the Deputy Director ‘shall’ serve as acting Director, but that under the FVRA the President ‘may’ override that default rule,” the court said.

Updated at 7:30 p.m.