President Donald Trump is allowed to appoint budget director Mick Mulvaney as head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, according to the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel.
Several Democratic lawmakers had contented that the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act would mean that the CFPB’s deputy director would serve as the agency’s interim leader in the wake of Richard Cordray’s resignation.
Matt House, spokesman for Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer told The Intercept that it’s Schumer’s view that the deputy director would lead the agency instead of Trump’s pick. “And we’ve been in conversations with the offices of Sens. Brown and Warren on exploring ways to ensure the line of succession, as drawn up in law, is adhered to.”
However, the OLC opinion released Saturday said that the Federal Vacancies Reform Act does allow Trump to appoint Mulvaney — who has supported eliminating the CFPB — as its acting director.
The CFPB was created by the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act and is a favorite of liberals like Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren.
“The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, or CFPB, has been a total disaster as run by the previous Administrations pick. Financial Institutions have been devastated and unable to properly serve the public,” Trump tweeted Saturday. “We will bring it back to life!”
Warren responded: “The [CFPB] has returned $12 billion to working families who were cheated. That’s government that works for the people.”