The deputy director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau filed an appeal Friday in her battle to oust acting CFPB Director Mick Mulvaney, prolonging the fight over President Trump's appointment.
Leandra English requested an expedited review of her case by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, just two days after U.S. District Judge Timothy J. Kelly refused to grant a preliminary injunction, Kelly ruled that English was unlikely to succeed in removing Mulvaney, because doing so would upset the status quo, and she was unable to demonstrate irreparable harm to herself or the agency.
English has claimed she is the lawful director of the CFPB, having been appointed as deputy director by former CFPB Director Richard Cordray in late November. Trump appointed Mulvaney as acting director on the same day.
English sued both Trump and Mulvaney alleging that statutory language in the Dodd-Frank Act takes precedence and states that the CFPB director can name a successor. The Department of Justice and the CFPB's general counsel have said Trump has broad powers to appoint Mulvaney under the Federal Vacancies Reform Act.
English's case is not the only one pending on the matter. The Lower East Side People's Federal Credit Union has filed a substantially similar lawsuit in New York that also protests Trump's decision. The oral arguments on that case were heard on Friday morning. It's not immediately clear what would happen if that court reached a different verdict than Kelly.
Outside experts have continued to say English's case is weak, indicating that the longer Mulvaney remains in control, the less likely a court will be to reverse the earlier decision.
