Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and prominent progressive groups rallied outside Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) headquarters on Tuesday to denounce President Donald Trump for placing "himself firmly on the side of Wall Street banks" by attempting to elevate his budget director to the head of the CFPB.
Trump is attempting to deliver "a double kiss to Wall Street this week" by "trying to push forward tax reform that gives a trillion and a half dollars in tax cuts to giant corporations and at the same time, trying to hollow out the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau," Warren argued.
Highlighting the agency's role in holding major financial institutions accountable following the 2008 financial crisis, Warren—one of the bureau's architects—issued an urgent call to action as the CFPB's internal power struggle rages on.
"For six years, this agency has fought to give consumers a chance. For six years, this agency has fought for working people," Warren declared as CFPB employees looked on from their office windows. "And now it's time for us to fight for the agency."
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As Common Dreams reported on Monday, CFPB deputy director Leandra English has filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration, arguing that the law clearly states she—and not White House budget director Mick Mulvaney—is the rightful acting director of the agency.
In a letter (pdf) addressed to Mulvaney and White House Counsel Don McGahn late Monday, Warren made clear who she thinks is in the right.
"I believe the language of the Dodd-Frank law is clear and that Leandra English, not Mr. Mulvaney, is the legal Acting Director of the agency," Warren wrote.
U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly, a Trump appointee, was assigned to hear English's lawsuit, but as of this writing has yet to issue a ruling.
