A federal judge on Tuesday denied a request for a restraining order from Leandra English – Richard Cordray’s pick to serve as acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) – that, had it been granted, would have blocked President Trump’s appointment of Mick Mulvaney to serve as acting director of the bureau.
Former director Cordray appointed deputy director English as acting director on Friday, his last day. As per the Dodd-Frank Act, the deputy director is to take over as interim director until Congress acts to install a permanent new director. However, on that same day, President Trump appointed Mulvaney to head up the agency. That resulted in English filing a request for a restraining order against Mulvaney in federal court in Washington, D.C.
English, who had been most recently serving as the agency’s chief of staff, has previously held leadership positions at the CFPB, the Office of Management and Budget, and the Office of Personnel Management.
David Silberman, who had been serving as acting deputy director, will continue in his role as associate director of the bureau’s Research, Markets, and Regulations division.
On Monday, Mulvaney, who serves as director of the Office of Management and Budget, reportedly showed up for work at the CFPB headquarters, resulting in some confusion among staffers as to which acting director to follow.
But the decision by U.S. District Court Judge Timothy Kelly on Tuesday in effect makes Mulvaney, who has been openly critical of the CFPB in the past, acting director of the agency. However, it will still be up to the Senate to appoint a permanent director.
Lawyers for Trump successfully argued that the Vacancies Act overrides the Dodd-Frank Act, which establishes the CFPB’s bylaws, because the Vacancies Act “provides the President with authority ‘for temporarily authorizing an acting official to perform the functions and duties’ of an officer of an ‘Executive agency’ whose appointment ‘is required to be made by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate,’ and it is the ‘exclusive means’ for authorizing acting service ‘unless’ another statute expressly designates an officer to serve in an acting capacity or provides an alternative means for a designation as an acting officer.”
Judge Kelly agreed with this stance in denying English’s request for a restraining order.
It is unclear whether English has any other legal recourse to fight Mulvaney’s appointment to the position. However, most legal experts are of the opinion that the fight over directorship is far from over.
Meanwhile, a press release announcing English’s appointment as acting director remains on the bureau’s website.
“Leandra is a seasoned professional who has spent her career of public service focused on promoting smooth and efficient operations,” Cordray says in the release. “As deputy director, we will continue to benefit from Leandra’s in-depth knowledge of the operational needs of this agency and its staff. I would like to thank David Silberman for taking on the additional role of acting deputy director during a busy time and appreciate his continued service as associate director of Research, Markets, and Regulations.”