After a series of legal defeats in the fight over who’s really in charge of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Leandra English finally received a bit of good news this week.
English, who was former CFPB Director Richard Cordray’s handpicked choice to lead the bureau after he stepped down, has been fighting in the court system after Mick Mulvaney supplanted her as CFPB acting director.
Just before Cordray stepped down in November, he promoted English from chief of staff to deputy director, positioning her to take over as acting director upon Cordray’s departure.
But the Trump administration fought back against Cordray’s chosen line of succession and installed Mulvaney, who frequently criticized the agency while serving in Congress, as acting director.
That set off a legal battle over who was really in charge of the CFPB, but U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly sided with Trump, handing control of the bureau to Mulvaney.
But English didn’t give up, asking Kelly for a preliminary injunction that would have replaced Mulvaney with English at the CFPB.
That request proved unsuccessful, as Kelly denied English’s request for a preliminary injunction, which enabled Mulvaney to maintain control of the CFPB.
English didn’t stop there either, taking her case to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
English got that bit of good news this week when the Court of Appeals granted her request for an expedited review of the case.
English’s attorney, Deepak Gupta, took to Twitter on Tuesday to announce the court’s ruling.
According to Gupta’s tweet, English is required to turn in her brief in the case by Jan. 30, 2018. The Trump administration will then have until Feb. 23, 2018 to file its brief. A reply brief is due by March 6, 2018.
In English v. Trump, the D.C. Circuit has granted Ms. English's emergency motion to expedite the appeal. pic.twitter.com/3H9XKjfa0I
— Deepak Gupta (@deepakguptalaw) January 23, 2018
So, it looks like the fight over the leadership of the CFPB will last until March, at least.
