A credit union in New York City has become the second entity to file a lawsuit against President Trump and his pick to be the acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureu, Mick Mulvaney.
Lower East Side People’s Federal Credit Union filed the lawsuit yesterday in the District Court for the Southern District of New York. The suit alleges that Leandra English, who was promoted to deputy director of the CFPB in the hours before former director Richard Cordray resigned on Nov. 24, is the rightful individual who should be in charge of the agency. English has filed a lawsuit against President Trump and Mulvaney alleging she should be the acting director. Her request for a temporary restraining order was denied. The court will hear arguments on a preliminary injunction in two weeks.
LESPFCU has 8,500 members and is “dedicated to providing high-quality financial services and community development investments in low income, immigrant and other underserved communities,” according to the company’s website.
“The Credit Union does not know who is validly in charge of the CFPB, who is authorized to make the rules, or whose rules to follow,” according to the complaint.
The President is using the Federal Vacancies Reform Act to appoint Mulvaney, who is also the director of the White House’s Office of Management & Budget, in charge of the CFPB. English and now the credit union are using the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act as the basis for their argument. The credit union has an issue with nominating an existing White House employee to run the CFPB until a permanent director is named.
Even if President Trump could appoint someone as CFPB Acting Director (he cannot), he cannot appoint a White House employee who serves at his whim and pleasure to run this independent agency. A major purpose of the Dodd-Frank Act was to create a CFPB independent of the President and insulated from political pressure. The purported Mulvaney appointment destroys CFPB independence altogether.
