Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Member of the House Committee on Financial Services, and 36 current and former Democratic Members filed an amicus brief with the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, arguing that Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Deputy Director Leandra English should serve as Acting Director of the Consumer Bureau until a Director is confirmed by the Senate.

The brief supports English’s request to enjoin Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney from serving as acting Director of the CFPB.

“In sum, the text, structure, and history of Dodd-Frank all point to the same conclusion: the CFPB’s Deputy Director serves as acting Director of the Bureau when a vacancy occurs. Congress established this mandatory order of succession to prevent exactly what the Administration is attempting here: temporarily filling the role—and delaying the nomination of a permanent successor—with a designee who reflects the President’s policy preferences but has not been subject to the check of Senate confirmation,” the lawmakers wrote. “President Trump is entitled to choose who the next Director of the Bureau will be, but he must nominate that person, and the Senate must agree to confirm him or her. Until that happens, Dodd-Frank makes clear who should be running the Bureau: its Deputy Director.”

Ranking Member Waters was joined by 36 current and former Members of Congress in the brief, including House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-MD), Representative Joseph Crowley (D-NY), Representative Carolyn B. Maloney (D-NY), Representative Nydia M. Velázquez (D-NY), Representative Brad Sherman (D-CA), Representative Gregory W. Meeks (D-NY), Representative Michael E. Capuano (D-MA), Representative Wm. Lacy Clay (D-MO), Representative Stephen F. Lynch (D-MA), Representative Al Green (D-TX), Representative Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO), Representative Gwen S. Moore (D-WI), Representative Keith Ellison (D-MN), Representative Jim Himes (D-CT), Representative Bill Foster (D-IL), Representative Dan Kildee (D-MI), Representative John K. Delaney (D-MD), Representative Joyce Beatty (D-OH), Representative Denny Heck (D-WA), Representative Juan Vargas (D-CA), Representative Charlie Crist (D-FL), Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-NY), Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ), Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Senator Brian Schatz (D-HI), Senator Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), former Senator Christopher Dodd (D-CT), former Senator Tim Johnson (D-SD), former Representative Barney Frank (D-MA), former Representative Paul E. Kanjorski, and former Representative Brad Miller (D-NC).

Ranking Member Waters and 25 current and former Members of Congress previously filed an amicus brief in support of Leandra English in November.

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