SC’s Mulvaney to lead consumer watchdog according to federal judge

Mick Mulvaney is the man.

That’s the ruling of a federal judge Tuesday, who decided the former U.S. Representative from South Carolina should remain acting head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Mulvaney, who is Donald Trump’s budget director, was named acting director of the nation’s top financial watchdog agency by the President last week.

Before he could start work Monday, Mulvaney was the target of a lawsuit from the department’s deputy director. Leandra English claimed the law creating the agency says the job should go to her.

Judge Timothy Kelly ruled against English and her attempt to stop Mulvaney from becoming the acting director.

Kelly was nominated by Trump and was confirmed by the Senate in September.

“The Administration applauds the Court’s decision, which provides further support for the President’s rightful authority to designate Director Mulvaney as Acting Director of the CFPB,” White House spokesman Raj Shah said in a statement.

Before joining the Trump administration, Mulvaney served as a congressman from 2010-17, representing the Upstate in representing the Upstate in the S.C. Legislature prior to that.

Mulvaney has been critical of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, created by the Obama administration to regulate financial services in the aftermath of the Great Recession. Mulvaney has called the agency a “sad, sick joke,” and considers it an example of a bureaucracy run amok.

“Rumors that I’m going to set the place on fire, or blow it up, or lock the doors, are completely false,” Mulvaney said in a Monday news conference. “That being said, anybody who thinks that a Trump administration CFPB would be the same as an Obama administration CFPB is simply naive. Elections have consequences.”

Last Friday, Mulvaney said he wants to make the CFPB accountable to the taxpayer. Critics worry Mulvaney will make the CFPB ineffective.

On Monday, Mulvaney instituted a 30-day freeze on hiring, rulemaking, regulations, guidance, and payments from the civil penalties fund.

The leadership of the bureau had been thrown into chaos over the weekend after its permanent director, Richard Cordray, resigned and appointed English as his successor.

This story was originally published November 28, 2017 at 6:06 PM with the headline "SC’s Mulvaney to lead consumer watchdog according to federal judge."