WASHINGTON–Leandra English, deputy director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, has filed an amended appeal aimed at removing the acting director of the agency appointed by President Trump.
As CUToday.info reported here, English lost an earlier ruling when Judge Timothy Kelly, who is a Trump appointee, had ruled, "Denying the president's authority to appoint (Mick) Mulvaney raises significant constitutional questions.”
Mulvaney is also director of the Office of Management and Budget.
English is maintaining that the Dodd-Frank Act, which created the CFPB, is clear in how succession at the agency should work, arguing the Act is clear the deputy director succeeds the director in the event of a vacancy. That vacancy was created when Director Richard Cordray resigned in November.
Trump, however, cited the Federal Vacancies Reform Act to appoint Mick Mulvaney as the acting director. Judge Kelly ruled in favor of the Trump Administration’s view.
English, who is being represented by Deepak Gupta of Gupta Wessler PLLC, has now filed an amended complaint requesting a “preliminary and permanent injunction” to block the appointment, according to the National Law Journal.
In the amended complaint, Gupta argued that “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, including its mandated independence from the Office of Management and Budget.”
Because her initial attempt was styled as a request for a temporary restraining order, English could not immediately appeal Kelly’s decision. Any denial of her injunction request can be appealed to the D.C. Circuit if it’s denied by Kelly, the National Law Journal explained.
Gupta, who is a former CFPB attorney, told the court English is not contesting the Trump administration’s authority to take steps to install a Senate-confirmed successor to the agency’s former director.
As CUToday.info reported here, Lower East Side People’s FCU has also filed a lawsuit seeking to stop the appointment of Mulvaney.