DOJ Challenges Credit Union’s Lawsuit Over Mulvaney Appointment

The Department of Justice (DOJ) is arguing that a New York City credit union does not have the right to file a lawsuit challenging President Trump’s appointment of Mick Mulvaney as Acting Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).

 

According to a Credit Union Times report, the Lower East Side People’s Federal Credit Union filed its lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York with the argument that Leandra English, the Richard Cordray-appointed Acting Director, is the rightful Interim Chief of the agency. English claimed that she was the rightful Acting Director based on the Dodd-Frank Act, but the Trump Administration cited the Federal Vacancies Act for giving President Trump the authority to make the appointment. English’s lawsuit to be recognized as the rightful Acting Director is currently before a federal court.

 

“We support the CFPB as a protector of our low-income members’ financial rights, and fear that the appointment of an Acting Director beholden to the White House could result in upheaval and ultimate dissolution of this critical agency,” said Linda Levy, CEO of the credit union. “Having experienced the devastation that the 2008 mortgage crisis wreaked on our low income members, we need the CFPB to protect communities targeted by financial predators.”

 

In countering the credit union’s lawsuit, the DOJ noted that the institution’s legal action is based on a flimsy argument, stating: “All Plaintiff’s brief offers on standing is six words in a footnote: ‘Plaintiff is regulated by the CFPB.' That bald assertion does not suffice.” The DOJ added that the Credit Union National Association has filed a brief supporting the Mulvaney appointment, although Lower East Side People’s Federal Credit Union is not a member of that trade group.

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