Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., said Sunday he expects White House Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney to be in charge of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Monday, despite former CFPB head Richard Cordray appointing a different successor Friday.
“I expect that Mick Mulvaney will be on the job and he will be calling the shots over there,” Thune told “Fox News Sunday.”
Under the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act that created the agency, a departing director can name an acting head before the Senate confirms a replacement nominated by the president.
But on Friday, President Trump announced Mulvaney would be taking over the bureau rather than the agency’s chief of staff, Leandra English, who Cordray tapped for the post.
The Department of Justice on Saturday issued a memorandum in support of Trump, saying the president had the authority to step in.
“The best thing Congress can do is that the president make a permanent nomination and we will process it as quickly as we can in the Senate and get somebody installed as soon as possible,” Thune said.
“That ultimately is the best way to resolve this but, in the meantime, the president’s made this appointment. I suspect maybe it gets litigated, that it ends up in court.”
Thune added he hoped the leadership change ushered in an era of reform at the financial sector watchdog, which is charged with overseeing companies that lend to consumers.
