An attempt by an Obama-era official to stop the Trump administration from appointing an interim director at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has failed.
On Sunday, Leandra English, the deputy director of the bureau who was appointed by the former director of the CFPB on his way out the door, filed a lawsuit.
English, who filed the complaint in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, sought a temporary restraining order blocking President Donald Trump’s choice for interim director, Mick Mulvaney, from running the agency — leaving her in charge until a permanent director is confirmed by the Senate.
According to the complaint, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act mandates that the deputy director shall “serve as the acting director in the absence or unavailability of the director.”
On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge
Timothy Kelly ruled in favor of the Trump administration and denied the request for a restraining order.
Kelly
ruled on the authority of the administration to make an interim appointment under the Vacancy Reform Act, according to Joseph Lynyak III, a partner at Dorsey & Whitney who claims to be an expert on regulatory reform, and the CFPB.
“Essentially, he ruled that either the Dodd-Frank provision or the Vacancy Reform Act could be used by the president in the alternative,” Lynyak said.
Lynyak questioned how English could argue that Mulvaney was “too close” to the current administration when former director Richard Cordray seemed to be in a similar position with the Obama administration.
“In the next few weeks, Acting Director Mulvaney will likely reorganize current senior CFPB management and implement changes to enforcement approaches to reflect probable modifications to policy,” Lynyak said.
