Judge sides with President Trump in consumer agency dispute

WASHINGTON – A federal judge refused to block the appointment of Mick Mulvaney as interim director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, siding with the Trump administration in the legal fight over the leadership of the consumer watchdog agency.

“Denying the president’s authority to appoint Mr. Mulvaney raises significant constitutional questions,” U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly said.

Kelly said that “nothing in the statutes prevents Mr. Mulvaney from holding both of these positions.” The judge was referring to Mulvaney’s existing job as the federal budget director.

The unusual battle for control of the consumer bureau started on Friday. The agency’s outgoing director, Richard Cordray, appointed Leandra English as deputy director and contended the appointment made her the acting director until the presidential nomination and Senate approval of a new one.

President Donald Trump, however, countered the move by naming Mulvaney, director of the Office of Management and Budget and a vocal critic of the consumer bureau, as the watchdog’s interim director.

Mulvaney’s installation was meant to serve as an immediate break with the Obama-era leadership, pending the nomination and approval of a permanent director.

English argued in a lawsuit filed Sunday that she should hold the position as acting director, in keeping with a sweeping regulatory reform law known as the DoddFrank Wall Street Reform Act that established the consumer bureau in the aftermath of the national financial crisis.

English’s attorney, Deepak Gupta, has argued that allowing Mulvaney, a top White House official, to hold the post would compromise the bureau’s independence.

The consumer watchdog oversees banks, mortgage providers, credit card issuers, student loans and other financial services that affect millions of Americans.

Justice Department attorneys representing the Trump administration have said blocking Mulvaney’s appointment would “sow confusion” about the bureau’s operations.

Mulvaney reported for work at the bureau Monday, even as the legal battle continued to play out.