Update: Who's the Boss at the CFPB? (CRS Report for Congress)
| Release Date |
Revised Jan. 11, 2018 |
| Report Number |
LSB10036 |
| Report Type |
Legal Sidebar |
| Authors |
Brannon, Valerie C.;Cole, Jared P. |
| Source Agency |
Congressional Research Service |
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Summary:
As consumers flocked to shopping outlets nationwide on Black Friday, a leadership shakeup ensued at the
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). The CFPB’s Director, Richard Cordray, announced that
he had appointed Leandra English, the agency’s chief of staff, to the position of Deputy Director. Cordray
then resigned and stated that English would become the Acting Director of the agency, meaning that she
would serve until the Senate confirms a permanent replacement. However, later that day, President Trump
announced that he was designating Mick Mulvaney, the Director of the Office of Management and
Budget, to serve as Acting Director of the CFPB. On Sunday, November 26, English brought suit in
federal court seeking a declaration that she is the Acting Director of the CFPB, along with a temporary
restraining order barring Mulvaney from acting in the position and President Trump from appointing any
individual to the position. As of the date of this Sidebar, both English and Mulvaney have reportedly
claimed to be Acting Director in communications to CFPB staff. Ruling from the bench on November 28,
the federal judge presiding over English’s suit denied English’s motion for a temporary restraining order
that would have prohibited Mulvaney from holding the position. However, this order does not resolve the
underlying merits of the dispute, and future legal proceedings may be possible.
Both then-Director Cordray and President Trump have asserted statutory authority to name an Acting
Director. English, as the Deputy Director, argues that she is now the lawful Acting Director because the
statute establishing the CFPB provides that the Deputy Director “shall . . . serve as acting Director in the
absence or unavailability of the Director.” By contrast, the White House claims that the Federal Vacancies
Reform Act (Vacancies Act) authorizes the President to fill the position. Legal observers have disagreed
over whether English or Mulvaney has the better claim. Both the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal
Counsel (OLC) and the CFPB’s own General Counsel (GC) have issued opinions that conclude President
Trump enjoys authority under the Vacancies Act to appoint Mulvaney as Acting Director of the CFPB.
