Yesterday, I posted on the showdown between the Trump administration and #TheResistance over leadership of the out-of-control and unconstitutional Consumer Financial Protection Board (CFPB), a nanny agency designed to enable an unaccountable organization run by anti-business activists to bully the entire financial sector.
This crisis, of sorts, was created by Richard Cordray, the CFPB director, who wanted to hand-pick his own successor. He did this by resigning and appointing his chief of staff to the position of deputy director which, according to his reading of the law, allowed her to become director this morning. President Trump, instead of falling in line, announced he was appointing OMB director Mick Mulvaney as acting director. The Department of Justice concurred:
JUST IN: Trump designates OMB director Mulvaney as acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau after director Richard Cordray resigned earlier today. https://t.co/jn8limUSe7 pic.twitter.com/ZmXfCDovZ1
— CNBC Now (@CNBCnow) November 25, 2017
And today the general counsel for the CFPB has agreed with and enthusiastically endorsed the DOJ opinion.
The Cordray appointed deputy director, Elizabeth Warren clone Leandra English, has filed for an emergency restraining order to stay in power.
Here's the full Complaint just filed by Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Acting Director Leandra English for a restraining order preventing Trump OMB Dir. Mick Mulvaney from taking over CFPB tomorrow morning. https://t.co/p0FJTgu5u0
— Christina Wilkie (@christinawilkie) November 27, 2017
And the left is going batsh** crazy over what they see as their privately owned branch of government being brought under executive control.
Schumer warns @realDonaldTrump:
“The process for succession laid out in Dodd Frank is clear: Leandra English, not Mick Mulvaney, is the acting director of the CFPB.” pic.twitter.com/ZVGXmhLe0g
— Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) November 26, 2017
So, who’s visiting Trump's OMB director Mick Mulvaney?
– Wall Street CEOs
– Koch lobbyists
– Opus Dei membersand billionaires. Quite a lot of billionaires. https://t.co/uHfzppPD77
— ProPublica (@propublica) November 24, 2017
(Note the cute anti-Catholic bigotry in that last tweet.)
Here we go! Proud of my #Emoluments co-counsel @deepakguptalaw & colleagues 4taking on Trump's illegal attempt to hijack @cfpb & ignore rule of law. pic.twitter.com/hjgZ6h9OSG. 2quote Roy Moore (and a cheerleading movie): Bring. It. On. Or maybe a better film quote: "Make my day."
— Norm Eisen (@NormEisen) November 27, 2017
Leandra English is the Acting Director of the CFPB under the Dodd-Frank Act.
Donald Trump cannot unilaterally appoint a new CFPB Director without Senate confirmation. He cannot unilaterally rewrite statutes. He seems hell-bent on tearing up the Constitution. We can't let him.
— Zephyr Teachout (@ZephyrTeachout) November 26, 2017
But it looks like the administration will prevail on this.
https://twitter.com/katierogers/status/935125394767917056
@MickMulvaneyOMB sitting in director's office. Already hard at work as acting director at cfpb. pic.twitter.com/BKISYfduY7
— john czwartacki (@CZ) November 27, 2017
Possession is nine-tenths of the law. Keep that in mind.
It is difficult to see how English prevails in a lawsuit where both Justice and her own agency has rejected her position. And when the dust settles, Senator Tom Cotton has the solution:
Leandra English’s lawsuit to install herself as acting director against the president’s explicit direction is just the latest lawless action by the CFPB. Statement: https://t.co/Nvqd2VEvpi pic.twitter.com/FpwwfXH3VQ
— Tom Cotton (@SenTomCotton) November 27, 2017
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