Discussion: CFPB Lawyer Reportedly Said Trump Has Authority To Name Interim Bureau Chief

"… there should be no question that Director Mulvaney is the Acting Director,” Sanders said. “It is unfortunate that Mr. Cordray decided to put his political ambition above the interests of consumers with this stunt.”

It’s this kind of thing that has upped my dosage of blood pressure medicine…and alcohol. Cordray’s sole interest in this matter is the protection of consumers. Trump’s sole interest is destroying the CFPB.

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The CFPB’s lawyer’s opinion is just another legal opinion like that of any other lawyer. The only opinion that counts is that of the last judge to review the case.

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Trump’s sole interest, Mulvaney’s sole interest, the sole interest of the entire fucking Republican Party is to do to the CFPB what Scott Pruitt is doing to the EPA.

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Leave it to Sarah to up the ante by her sanctimonious snark. That woman is horrible and makes the rump administration even more odious than it is.

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$5 says that McLeod has ÂŽ next to her name in voter lists.

Seriously, I’ve never seen a government lawyer turn around a definitive answer that quickly, and especially with half her memo basically instructing the team to ignore the law.

Government lawyers are normally much more cautious.

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Wouldn’t be the first time a lawyer has given mistaken advice. I know. I’ve done it myself.

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…and what Tillerson is doing to State and DeVos to Education and Zinke to Interior and… ad nauseam.

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Opinions, even legal ones, are like assholes. Everybody’s got one.

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Given that the CFPB statute was enacted after the temporary vacancy act and that it specifically provides that the Assistant Director remains until a new nominee is confirmed by the Senate, I’m curious what the reasoning is here. The only thing I can think of is that it has something to do with Cordray waiting until the day he retired to elevate the acting assistant to be the actual assistant - I can’t fathom why Cordray didn’t do it well in advance of his retirement.

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It is my understanding that, generally speaking, a specific federal law supersedes a general federal law.
So the Dodd-Frank language about the specific method that makes someone the acting head of the agency is the law that obtains, rather than the more general federal vacancies law.

Any lawyers here this a.m. who can be more specific?

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The ‘why’ is easy-- he knew exactly what shenanigans they would pull if given the opportunity.

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So that’s why he didn’t do it well in advance? That doesn’t make any sense to me. Can you explain?

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Pretty straight-forward. His legal reasoning for appointing his Deputy is based on his Absence, which he made happen early by moving up his departure to midnight of the same day.

Given a gap where he wasn’t “absent”, that authority wouldn’t apply, and Trump may have had the opening to appoint Mulvaney clearly and legally.

I’m sure the legal-beagles here can correct me for any flawed logic applied.

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Absolutely.

Well, children learn from their parents. She obviously learned well.

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Experian sure doesn’t want to be accountable for letting everyone’s credit report get hacked.

CFPB lawyer, eh? My takeaway is that there must be a lucrative opening in Legal at the Mercatus Institute, Business Roundtable or other Corrupt Organization. He’s headed down the golden road to The Revolving Door.

It think this is a close case, but I think the WH interpretation of the relevant laws is correct. The Dodd-Frank Act, which created the Financial Bureau, says that the Deputy Director becomes the Acting Director “in the absence or unavailability of the Director.”

Cordry argues that since he resigned, he is “absent” and thus the Deputy Director takes over temporarily. I can see the argument, but I don’t think that’s right. Cordry isn’t “absent”: he is “gone”. I think that if Congress meant to cover the current situation, Congress would have added “resigned” or “whose term has expired” to the conditions. But it didn’t.

I also think that those folks who are so strenuously arguing against the WH position should ask themselves how they would be arguing if the positions were reversed, and there was a Democrat in the WH, and a right wing Republican was trying to dictate his temporary successor to a position in the Executive Branch.

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Perfectly Orwellian.

TheRealLucifer is proud of his minister’s daughter.