If you haven't been following the soap opera that is unfolding at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, let us quickly fill you in. Richard Cordray resigned as CFPB director last week and appointed deputy director Leandra English to take his place.
President Trump had other ideas. Tapping into his authority under the Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998, he appointed Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney as interim director of CFPB.
English sued the White House, declaring Mulvaney had stolen her rightful title. The Dodd-Frank Act, she claims, prohibits the president from appointing a director of the agency. According to Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR), she is in way over her head and needs to stop the back and forth legal jargon and acquiesce to the president's wishes.
Leandra English’s lawsuit to install herself as acting director against the president’s explicit direction is just the latest lawless action by the CFPB. Statement: https://t.co/Nvqd2VEvpi pic.twitter.com/FpwwfXH3VQ
— Tom Cotton (@SenTomCotton) November 27, 2017
White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders accuses Cordray of having had unfortunate "political ambitions," and insists that the White House has spoken.
"The law is clear," Huckabee Sanders told CNN. "Director Mulvaney is the Acting Director of the CFPB. Now that the CFPB's own General Counsel - who was hired under Richard Cordray - has notified the Bureau's leadership that she agrees with the Administration's and DOJ's reading of the law, there should be no question that Director Mulvaney is the Acting Director. "It is unfortunate that Mr. Cordray decided to put his political ambition above the interests of consumers with this stunt. Director Mulvaney will bring a more serious and professional approach to running the CFPB."
