Fight over consumer watchdog office heads to court

WASHINGTON—Mick Mulvaney showed up to work at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) on Monday despite legal questions about his right to be there. President Donald Trump selected Mulvaney, who currently heads the Office of Management and Budget, to step in at the CFPB until he appoints a new permanent director. But when former bureau head Richard Cordray abruptly left the office Friday, he appointed his own successor by promoting his former chief of staff, Leandra English. The dueling appointments ignited a legal dispute, with English suing the Trump administration over the weekend to block Mulvaney from taking over. English argues she is the rightful acting director until the Senate confirms a new one. Both English and Mulvaney showed up at the bureau’s Washington office Monday morning. President Barack Obama created the CFPB in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis as part the Dodd-Frank banking reforms. Obama appointed Cordray as the first CFPB director in 2011. Most Republicans dislike the bureau because it has virtually no congressional oversight. Mulvaney voted to dismantle the CFPB while he served in Congress.