[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 192 (Monday, November 27, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7321-S7322]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                  Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

  Madam President, finally, on the matter of the directorship of the 
CFPB--the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau--there should be no 
dispute about who is the Acting Director of the agency. The process for 
succession laid out in Dodd-Frank is clear: Leandra English, not Mick 
Mulvaney, is the Acting Director of the CFPB.
  Let me underscore that point: I was involved when Dodd-Frank was 
written. The clear intention of Congress was to establish a clear line 
of succession for the CFPB, separate and apart from the Federal 
Vacancies Act. I remember; I was here.
  The language in question wasn't a part of the House version of Dodd-
Frank, but we included it in the Senate version for an explicit 
purpose. We wanted the CFPB to be an independent agency, free from 
political considerations of the White House, free of the influence of 
lobbyists, who we knew would not like that consumers were finally 
protected in the financial area. We wanted a watchdog whose only job 
was to look out for consumers. That was the whole structure of the 
bill. That is why it has such a unique structure--to shield it from an 
administration, whoever it would be, that would be influenced by 
lobbyists.
  That is why we expressly stipulated that if the Director were not 
available, the Acting Director should be the highest ranking member of 
the CFPB, not whoever the White House believes is in their political 
interests.
  By attempting to install Mr. Mulvaney as the Director, 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 the henhouse.
  Mr. Mulvaney has, throughout his career, criticized the mission and 
purpose of the CFPB. The man the President chose for Director of the 
agency called it a sick, sad joke. He doesn't believe in the agency. He 
would prefer that it didn't exist. That is not speculation; those are 
Mulvaney's own words. In 2015, he said: ``I don't like the fact that 
the CFPB exists.'' The only reason the Trump administration would put 
Mr. Mulvaney forward for this position would be so that he can rot the 
agency from the inside.
  There is a clear pattern in this administration. Rather than trying 
to scrap agencies that the administration doesn't like--a tactic that 
would never fly with Congress or the American people, who know how 
important these agencies are--the administration will put in charge the 
people who will undermine them.
  To head the Environmental Protection Agency, the Trump administration 
chose an industry advocate who was against just about every advance in 
the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act.
  To head the Department of Energy, the Trump administration nominated 
someone who called for its abolishment.
  To head the Ex-Im Bank, which helps exports throughout this country--
new jobs--the Trump administration nominated someone who called for it 
to be disbanded.
  Mr. Mulvaney is only the latest in a long line of Trojan-horse 
candidates selected by the White House to undermine Federal agencies 
from within. The CFPB should be led by someone who believes in its 
mission, someone who is committed to working around the clock on behalf 
of consumers, not by a part-time Director who clearly disdains the 
agency. President Trump must nominate a permanent Director, and 
eventually that person will take charge of the agency, if confirmed. 
Whoever is nominated must have a demonstrated record of standing up on 
behalf of consumers. Former Director Cordray and Leandra English fit 
that mold. Mick Mulvaney certainly does not.
  For the interim, the law established under Dodd-Frank dictates that 
Ms.

[[Page S7322]]

English is the Acting Director of the CFPB. The White House should 
abandon any efforts to circumvent that succession process.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Texas.