2 Bosses Show Up to Lead the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
Carl W. Tobias, a professor at the University of Richmond School of Law who studies federal judicial selection,
said Judge Kelly’s tenure in Washington has probably left him familiar with “interbranch disputes.”
“On the president’s side,” Mr. Tobias said, “you can say
that the Vacancies Reform Act should govern.” Ms. English’s camp, on the other hand, could argue that the thrust of Dodd-Frank was to create “a lot of insulation” for the agency to be truly politically independent, he said.
“We’re aware that a lawsuit has been filed,” said Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the White House press secretary, “but we’re also aware
that the law is extremely clear and that Director Mulvaney is the acting director here.”
She said the legality of his appointment was confirmed by the White House counsel’s office, the Justice Department
and the agency’s own general counsel, who was appointed by Mr. Cordray.
The judge also said that neither set of attorneys had addressed whether Mr. Mulvaney, who is
also the director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, “can wear two hats.”
Yet the judge remarked that he was essentially being asked by Deepak Gupta, Ms.
English’s lawyer, to overrule the president’s power to appoint a new director.
Quyen Truong, a former assistant director and deputy general counsel at the bureau, predicted a likely protracted legal battle,
even if Judge Kelly ultimately denied Ms. English’s request to at least temporarily keep Mr. Mulvaney from running the agency.