Senator Seeks Inquiry on Leandra English Conversion Within CFPB

The controversy over who should be running the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) continued as Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) requested an inquiry on how Leandra English was converted from being a political appointee to being tapped by outgoing CFPB Director Richard Cordray to be acting director of the agency.

 

According to a report in The Hill, Sen. Johnson, the chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, sent a letter to Henry Kerner, the head of the Office of Special Counsel (OSC), raising concerns that the CFPB may have run afoul of federal rules. Johnson was specifically focused on the process that enabled English to be elevated to a position designed to have her lead the agency, arguing that this was a case of burrowing, or "a practice in which a non-career, political appointee converts to a career position outside of competitive hiring processes."

 

"Based on the information that [the Office of Personnel Management] provided to the Committee, it may be appropriate for the Office of Special Counsel to review whether the conversion of Ms. English from a political appointment at OPM to a career position within CFPB adhered to the merit system principles," Johnson wrote.

 

President Trump appointed Office of Management and Budget chairman Mick Mulvaney to serve as acting CFPB director, and this appointment was upheld in federal court. English is pursuing further litigation to gain Mulvaney’s position, and the president has yet to name a full-time replacement for Cordray, who is now seeking the Democratic nomination for governor of Ohio.