2 acting directors vie for control
WASHINGTON — Mick Mulvaney, President Trump’s pick as leader of the nation’s top financial watchdog agency, said Monday that he was imposing a 30-day freeze on hiring and new rulemaking as he moves to take control of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
Meanwhile, Leandra English, who was elevated to the same position by the bureau’s outgoing director, met with top Senate Democrats. She has asked a judge to issue a temporary restraining order to block Mulvaney from taking over the bureau.
The fight moved to a federal courtroom in Washington, where Judge Timothy Kelly, a Trump appointee approved recently by the Senate, heard arguments on the case later Monday.
Mulvaney, the current White House budget director and a former Republican congressman from South Carolina, has called the agency a “joke” and an example of bureaucracy run amok. But he said Monday that he would keep the CFPB open.
“This agency will stay open. Rumors that I’m going to set the place on fire, or blow it up or lock the doors are completely false,” he said. “I am a member of the executive branch of government. We intend to execute the laws of the United States.”
He said there will be a 30-day freeze on hiring and new rulemaking, as well as a freeze on payment from the civil penalties fund for at least 30 days. He said if there were statutory or legal guidelines, they would be met.
Mulvaney said the day went smoothly, though he said the power struggle may be awkward for people who know English. Responding to news reports about the conflicting leadership, he said, “There was one person today who showed up at work claiming to be director. She wasn’t here.”
But earlier in the day, it was a battle of optics as Mulvaney and English jostled for control via emails, tweets and doughnuts.
English sent staff an email offering Thanksgiving wishes. Mulvaney then emailed staff to tell them to “disregard” any instructions from English. Both signed their missives “Acting Director.”
English was promoted from chief of staff to deputy director by Richard Cordray as he prepared to resign Friday. Cordray was appointed to the position by President Barack Obama and has been lauded by consumer advocates for aggressively going after banks for wrongdoing.