Mick Mulvaney is ostensibly the director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), but Mulvaney has sided against the agency he supposedly directs in court.
Mulvaney signed a joint motion with payday lenders who are asking a federal judge to indefinitely delay new rules for payday lenders until after the industry lawsuit against the rules is complete.
In a joint motion filed late last week in federal court in Austin, Tex., Mick Mulvaney, the bureau’s acting director, sided with two industry trade groups suing the agency. The bureau asked a judge to delay the rules until after the industry groups’ lawsuit is resolved, which may take years.
By then, the entire issue could be moot: Mr. Mulvaney has said he intends for the bureau to reconsider, and perhaps repeal, the rules. To do that, the agency has to follow a formal administrative process, which it has said it plans to begin by February.
Why would Mulvaney sign on to this motion rather than simply repeal the rules?
Repealing the rules is part of his plan, but he can't do it tomorrow. Federal regulations cannot be repealed on a whim and must go through a review process through which new rules can be proposed, commented on by the public, and ultimately implemented.
Mulvaney can't unilaterally repeal or delay rules for payday lenders (who have donated to his campaigns), but he can ask a judge to do it for him.
With any luck, the court will see this for exactly what it is, but the lawsuit was filed in Texas so I'm not necessarily optimistic.