White House, hostile to work of Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, tries to take it over with emergency appointment

Developments on Day 311 of the Trump Administration:

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Who Will Lead Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Monday?

The replacement of the head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau turns into a political and legal battle between staff and the White House.

Late Sunday, Leandra English, the deputy director of the CFPB who was to become its temporary chief, filed a lawsuit to block Donald Trump’s naming of Mick Mulvaney, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, to control the regulator.

Richard Cordray, the outgoing director, announced last week that he was leaving — eight months ahead of his planned departure — and named English to run the CFPB until a replacement could be nominated and approved. But the White House, which has been hostile to the activities of the Bureau, immediately tried to block the succession.

The CFPB was created in the aftermath of the 2008 global financial crisis to oversee financial products, including mortgages, credit cards, bank accounts, and student loans. Under Cordray, it developed new rules to punish companies breaking existing regulations, targeted abusive debt collectors, and bolstered protections for mortgage borrowers. The measures led to the obtaining of nearly $12 billion in refunds and cancellation of debts for 29 million consumers.

The CFPB’s critics in the financial industry accused it of overreach, and some GOP legislators said it was blocking growth and innovation. To protect the Bureau from political interference and even elimination, Congress made the CFPB head one of the few federal officials whom the President cannot fire at will.

The White House’s weekend maneuver tries to get around that barrier. Soon after the CFPB was created, Mulvaney called it a “joke” and “sad” and “sick”, supporting legislation to eliminate it. Trump — or staff using his Twitter account — declared on Saturday:

English’s lawsuit, in the US District Court for the District of Columbia, seeks a temporary injunction to halt Mulvaney’s appointment.

“The President’s attempt to appoint a still-serving White House staffer to displace the acting head of an independent agency is contrary to the overall statutory design and independence of the bureau,” she wrote.

English asked the court for an emergency restraining order to prevent Mr. Trump from naming an interim leader for the agency, and called on it to declare that she is the agency’s acting director.

White House officials said on Saturday that Mulvaney intends to show up at the agency’s office on Monday to begin his work, as well as continuing to lead the Office of Management and Budget.