District Court Rejects Request to Declare a CFPB Acting Director

A U.S. District Court Judge rejected the request for an injunction sought by CFPB Deputy Director Leandra English and an amicus brief filed by twenty-five current and former Democratic members of Congress. As previously covered, the lawsuit was filed over a dispute as to whether Ms. English, who was named as Acting Director by outgoing Director Richard Cordray, or President Trump's pick, Mick Mulvaney, is the rightful Acting Director.

The Congress members claimed that Ms. English, who was named Deputy Director before Mr. Cordray's resignation, is the lawful Acting Director. While not disputing the President's right to choose the next CFPB Director, the members argued that Dodd-Frank legislative history provides for the Deputy Director to serve as Acting Director until a replacement is chosen by the President and confirmed by the Senate. They argued further that the provisions in Dodd-Frank providing for a successor at the CFPB supersede the Federal Vacancies Reform Act provisions (contra to the memorandum from the DOJ Office of Legal Counsel); thus, the President does not have the right to replace Ms. English with Mr. Mulvaney.