<p>The Dems are desperately trying to block Trump&rsquo;s appointment of Budget Director Mick Mulvaney to lead the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), a watchdog agency created after the 2008 financial crisis to oversee financial products such as credit cards, mortgages, and student loans.</p>
<p>Acting CFPB director Leandra English filed a lawsuit against Trump on Sunday, challenging his decision to appoint Mulvaney to the post. ;  ; ;</p>
<p>English, who was selected to lead the bureau following the abrupt retirement of former director Richard Cordray last Friday, argues that Trump does not have the authority to appoint a CFPB director. ;</p>
<p>Trump appointed Mulvaney under the <em>Federal Vacancies Reform Act</em>, which allows the president to select any Senate-confirmed administration official to lead a department or agency.</p>
<p>English argues that the <em>Dodd-Frank Act</em>, which outlines the CFPB&rsquo;s line of succession, should take precedence over the ;<em>Vacancies Act</em>. ;</p>
<p>English&#8217;s ;complaint calls Trump&rsquo;s appointment of Mulvaney &ldquo;unlawful&rdquo; and criticizes Trump&rsquo;s use of the<em> Vacancies Act</em> as a &ldquo;contravention of Congress&rsquo;s statutory scheme&rdquo; that &ldquo;cannot be reconciled with <em>Dodd-Frank&rsquo;s</em> mandatory language.&rdquo; English is asking the court to bar Mulvaney from the position and to declare that the succession rules outlined in <em>Dodd-Frank</em> supersede the <em>Vacancies Act</em>. ;</p>
<p>&ldquo;The president may not, consistent with the statutory requirement of independence, install a still-serving White House staffer as the acting head of an independent agency,&rdquo; reads the complaint. ;</p>
<p>&#8212;</p>
<p>The disputed appointment pits the Trump Administration and the Justice Department against powerful Democratic lawmakers who have long championed the CFPB. ;</p>
<p>&ldquo;The Trump Administration is ignoring the established, proper, legal order of succession that we purposefully put in place, in order to put a fox in charge of a hen house,&rdquo; ;said Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY). ;</p>
<p>Democrats are terrified that Mulvaney, a staunch conservative, will destroy the CFPB from within. Mulvaney once referred to the CFPB as a &ldquo;sick, sad joke&rdquo; and supported legislation to eliminate the agency.</p>
<p>&ldquo;All Americans should be deeply concerned about the White House&rsquo;s cynical decision to flout the law and attempt to put the ringleader of its dangerous, anti-consumer protection policies in charge,&rdquo; said Nancy Pelosi (D-CA). ;</p>
<p>As far as the White House is concerned, Mulvaney is already the director. Officials said they are &ldquo;aware&rdquo; of the lawsuit and cited an opinion from Mary E. McLeod, the CFPB General Counsel, who agreed with the administration&rsquo;s reading of the law.</p>
<p>&ldquo;I advise all bureau personnel to act consistently with the understanding that Director Mulvaney is the acting director of the CFPB,&rdquo; wrote McLeod. ;</p>
<p><strong>Author&rsquo;s Note:</strong> Leandra English doesn&rsquo;t have enough money to go up against the president, so the real question here is: who is really behind the lawsuit?</p>
<p>At stake for the Dems is the possibility that the consumer bureau, which is one of the last holdouts within the federal government against Trump&rsquo;s efforts to loosen business regulations, will be dissolved. I suspect there are some serious donors involved in this lawsuit &ndash; maybe Soros or even the DNC.</p>
<p><strong>Editor&#8217;s Note:</strong> I can&#8217;t conceive that this could last very long, an actual insurrection within a government agency. This is unprecedented. ;</p>