Mulvaney Orders CFPB Hiring Freeze on First Day as Boss

White House budget director Mick Mulvaney on Monday ordered a 30-day hiring and regulatory freeze at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, where his controversial takeover as boss is being contested legally, as The Hill reported.

"Rumors that I'm going to set the place on fire or blow it up or lock the doors are completely false," Mulvaney, a fierce critic of the bureau, said at a news conference. "I'm a member of the executive branch of government. We intend to execute the laws of the United States, including the provisions of Dodd-Frank that govern the CFPB."

Mulvaney was named acting director of the CFPB by President Donald Trump last Friday after Richard Cordray stepped down, but Cordray first tapped chief of staff Leandra English to serve in that role. English filed suit to prevent Mulvaney's appointment, claiming she is the "rightful acting director."

"Ms. English has a clear legal entitlement to the position of acting director of the CFPB," the lawsuit read, according to The Wall Street Journal. "The president's purported or intended appointment of defendant Mulvaney as acting director of the CFPB is unlawful."

English sent an email to employees addressing herself as "acting director," to which Mulvaney responded with his own email.

"It has come to my attention that Ms. English has reached out to many of you this morning via email in an attempt to exercise certain duties of the Acting Director. This is unfortunate but, in the atmosphere of the day, probably not unexpected," he said.

"Please disregard any instructions you receive from Ms. English in her presumed capacity as acting director."

• Officials: Trump Has Legal Power to Put Mulvaney in Charge of Consumer Bureau
• Consumer Rights Groups, Lawmakers Oppose Mulvaney CFPB Appointment