Cordray exits bureau as he, Trump pick successors

Richard Cordray, founding director of the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, notified President Donald Trump by letter that Friday was officially his last day in the post. He also made a maneuver that appeared intended to block Trump from naming his successor.

Trump, however, named an acting director for the agency on Friday, throwing its leadership into disarray.

Cordray, a 58-year-old Democrat from Grove City and former Ohio attorney general, is widely expected to announce a run for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination. He announced on Nov. 15 that he would resign the consumer protection post by the end of the month.

Also on Friday, the CFPB announced that former chief of staff Leandra English had been named deputy director of the agency.

Politico reported that under the Dodd-Frank law that created the CFPB, English will become acting director as soon as Cordray’s position is vacant. To replace her, Trump would have to name a successor to Cordray who would have to be confirmed by the Senate.

Trump proposed his White House budget director, Mick Mulvaney, as the acting director of the CFPB, which Mulvaney once called a “joke” and said he wished didn’t exist. Several defenders of the agency said they were worried that Mulvaney, if given the helm of the CFPB on a temporary basis, would gut its powers.

Legal analysts were split over whether the White House or the CFPB had authority to name an acting director, with each side citing the fine print of dueling federal rules.

Corday, who was appointed by President Barack Obama in the wake of the Great Recession, raised the ire of Republicans by attempting to clamp down on payday lenders and slapping financial institutions such as Wells Fargo with big fines.