GOP senator predicts Trump’s appointment will win in CFPB director battle

Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) on Sunday predicted Mick Mulvaney will begin running the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) as interim director come Monday, despite the confusion created by two different appointments to lead the independent agency.

“I think Mick Mulvaney will be in charge,” Thune told host Chris Wallace on “Fox News Sunday.”

President Trump appointed Mulvaney, his White House budget chief, to lead the Wall Street watchdog agency on Friday. However, also on Friday, exiting CFPB Director Richard Cordray, an Obama-era appointee, promoted his chief of staff Leandra English into a position that would direct the agency after he’s gone.

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The dueling appointments sparked a battle between the White House and the CFPB of whose appointment would lead the agency going forward.

The White House and the Justice Department on Saturday argued in a memo that it is within Trump’s authority to name an acting director to the CFPB.

“I think very much it sounds like the Justice Department has come out and supported the president’s position on this. Ultimately, this may end up in court,” Thune continued.

Thune said the “best way to resolve this” would be to quickly approve whoever Trump taps to be the permanent successor to the position rather than having a bruising and drawn-out court battle over the matter.

“The best thing Congress can do is the president make a permanent nomination and we’ll process it as quickly as we can in the Senate and get somebody installed as soon as possible,” he said.

The Republican lawmaker stressed that the CFPB needs to be reformed.

“But the CFPB was created as an agency, Chris, that had very little accountability, very little transparency, really no oversight of Congress, and it is an agency that needs to be reformed,” he continued.