Acting Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Director Mick Mulvaney ordered a 30-day regulatory and hiring freeze on Monday.
Mulvaney declared that President Trump “wants me to get it [the agency] back to the point where it can protect people without trampling on capitalism.”
The hiring freeze came amidst a feud between current director Mulvaney and deputy director Leandra English, an Obama-era appointee to the CFPB, who argued that she remains the rightful director of the financial regulatory agency.
On Tuesday, a federal judge ruled in favor of President Trump, who nominated Mulvaney to head the agency while he looks for a permanent replacement to Richard Cordray, who announced his retirement weeks ago.
Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning cheered the court’s decision to rule in favor of President Trump. Manning said in a statement:
Judge Kelly got it 100 percent correct when he affirmed that President Trump’s authority under federal law to appoint Mick Mulvaney to be the acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau would likely prevail in a full court hearing. Former agency director Richard Cordray’s political power grab would effectively set the precedent that appointed bureaucrats could choose their successors without any input from elected officials. Cordray clearly was more interested in creating a media crisis to benefit his anticipated run for the Democratic nomination to be governor of Ohio than he was in upholding the rule of law. At this point, newly appointed deputy director Leandra English should cease and desist all efforts to undermine the President’s constitutional and legal authority. If she is unwilling to, she should submit her resignation.
Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) General Counsel Sam Kazman praised the ruling in a statement: “We are glad to see this attempt at bureaucratic self-perpetuation fail.”