WASHINGTON–The namesakes of the Dodd Frank Act say a judge has erred in allowing President Trump’s appointee to the CFPB to lead the agency, arguing the law was specifically written to require that agency’s deputy director take over should the director ever lead the post.
As CUToday.info reported here, a federal judge has ruled that Mick Mulvaney—appointed by the president—is acting director of the CFPB, and not Leandra English, the agency’s deputy director, who filed a lawsuit to stop the appointment. The dispute led to two days in which both Mulvaney and English were at the agency and claiming the top job.
During a media conference call, former Sen. Chris Dodd of Connecticut and Rep. Barney Frank of Massachusetts, the co-authors of the massive Dodd Frank Act that was passed in the wake of the financial crisis and which created the CFPB, said the language of the Act is unambiguous when it comes to leadership succession.
The judge ruled, however, that the Dodd Frank Act did not super-cede the Federal Vacancies Reform Act, which the White House cited in appointing Mulvaney to the position. Mulvaney also remains director of the Office of Management and Budget.
"This was a choice we made very deliberately and the notion that that was just a suggestion on our part and that the president can pick or choose [makes no sense," Frank said during the call.
Added Dodd, “the president cannot just create a director. We had the choice of keeping the Vacancies Act, but rejected that choice and wrote the language that was in the bill. We did not just call the CFPB an independent agency, we created an independent agency.”
Both Dodd and Frank spoke out against Mulvaney as the choice to lead the agency.
"He was put there to shut the agency down and keep it from being effective," Frank said. "They couldn't get a nominee confirmed who would be as negative at the agency as Mulvaney is.”