Leandra English

English has served in many capacities as a member of the U.S. federal government. Before joining the CFPB, she worked in both the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the Department of the Treasury.{{Cite news|url=https://www.consumerfinance.gov/about-us/newsroom/cfpb-announces-new-additions-to-senior-leadership/|title=CFPB Announces New Additions to Senior Leadership {{!}} Consumer Financial Protection Bureau|work=Consumer Financial Protection Bureau|access-date=December 13, 2017|language=en}} She worked on the transition team that launched the new agency in 2010. She later served as Deputy Chief of Staff. She then returned to OMB, serving as senior advisor to the Deputy Director of Management. She returned to CFPB in 2015, serving as Deputy Chief Operating Officer{{Cite news|url=https://www.consumerfinancemonitor.com/2017/01/09/cfpb-announces-senior-leadership-changes-2/|title=CFPB announces senior leadership changes {{!}} Consumer Finance Monitor|date=January 9, 2017|work=Consumer Finance Monitor|access-date=November 25, 2017|language=en-US}} and then Chief of Staff.{{Cite news|url=https://thehill.com/policy/finance/361737-consumer-bureau-chief-of-staff-rises-to-deputy-director/|title=Outgoing consumer bureau chief names new deputy director|last=Lane|first=Sylvan|date=November 24, 2017|work=TheHill|access-date=November 25, 2017}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/research/stocks/private/person.asp?personId=282948522&privcapId=128310419&previousCapId=128310419&previousTitle=Consumer%2520Financial%2520Protection%2520Bureau|title=Leandra English: Executive Profile & Biography|website=www.bloomberg.com|access-date=November 25, 2017}}

On November 24, 2017, English was appointed Deputy Director of the CFPB by outgoing Director Richard Cordray. Cordray resigned his position as Director effective at the stroke of midnight (12:00 A.M.) Eastern Standard Time (EST) on November 25, 2017, and sent a letter to CFPB staff announcing that English would serve as Acting Director.{{Cite news|url=https://money.cnn.com/2017/11/24/news/cfpb-richard-cordray-resignation/index.html|title=Cordray resignation sets off scramble over Consumer Financial Protection Bureau|last=Wattles|first=Jackie|work=CNNMoney|access-date=December 13, 2017}}{{cite web|title=Leandra English Named Deputy Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau|url=https://www.consumerfinance.gov/about-us/newsroom/leandra-english-named-deputy-director-consumer-financial-protection-bureau/|publisher=Consumer Financial Protection Bureau|accessdate=November 25, 2017|location=Washington, D.C.|date=November 24, 2017}} That same evening, President Donald Trump appointed the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, Mick Mulvaney, as the Acting Director of the CFPB. On November 26, 2017, English filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia to block Mulvaney from taking leadership of the CFPB.{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/business/wp/2017/11/26/who-is-leandra-english-the-woman-at-the-center-of-a-white-house-battle-for-control-of-the-cfpb/|title=Leandra English, the woman at the center of a White House battle for control of the CFPB, files lawsuit against Trump pick to lead watchdog agency|last=Merle|first=Renae|date=November 26, 2017|newspaper=Washington Post|access-date=December 13, 2017|language=en-US|issn=0190-8286}} English was represented in the lawsuit by appellate lawyer and former CFPB official Deepak Gupta. Two days later, November 28, 2017, a federal judge rejected English's emergency request to block President Trump's appointment of Mulvaney.{{Cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-cfpb-director-ruling-20171128-story.html|title=Judge denies restraining order to halt Mulvaney's appointment as acting CFPB director|date=November 28, 2017|website=Los Angeles Times}} A few weeks later, on January 10, 2018, a court ruled against English.{{Cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-cfpb-acting-director-20180110-story.html|title=Judge denies injunction to remove Mick Mulvaney as consumer bureau's acting director|date=January 11, 2018|website=Los Angeles Times}}

English has received backing from a number of current and former Democratic legislators calling her the rightful Acting Director, including Senator Elizabeth Warren,{{Cite news|url=https://www.cnbc.com/2017/11/27/sen-warren-backs-leandra-english-in-fight-over-consumer-protection-office.html|title=Sen. Warren backs Leandra English in fight over consumer protection office|last=Fox|first=Michelle|date=November 27, 2017|work=CNBC|access-date=December 12, 2017}} Senator Sherrod Brown,{{Cite news|url=https://www.msnbc.com/all-in/watch/consumer-financial-protection-bureau-s-dueling-directors-1104773699892|title=Dueling directors at Consumer Financial...|work=MSNBC|access-date=December 12, 2017}} Senator Richard Durbin, Representative Nancy Pelosi,{{Cite web|url=https://twitter.com/NancyPelosi/status/935659689290948608|title=Incredibly thankful for the determination of Leandra English, the rightful Acting Director of @CFPB. #DefendCFPBpic.twitter.com/giUKsOCL2p|last=Pelosi|first=Nancy|date=November 28, 2017|website=@NancyPelosi|language=en|access-date=December 12, 2017}} and former Representative Barney Frank,{{Cite news|url=http://www.businessinsider.com/elizabeth-warren-barney-frank-trump-cfpb-director-consumer-financial-protection-bureau-2017-11|title=Elizabeth Warren and the left go to war with Trump over the future of the top consumer watchdog agency|work=Business Insider|access-date=December 12, 2017|language=en}} co-author of the Dodd-Frank Act. A number of law professors also support her position, including Laurence Tribe, Martin Lederman,{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/27/business/cfpb-mulvaney-leandra-english-legal-explained.html|title=Who's the Real Head of the Consumer Watchdog Agency? A Legal Fight, Explained|last=Savage|first=Charlie|date=November 27, 2017|work=The New York Times|access-date=December 12, 2017|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}} and Nina Mendelson.{{Cite web|url=http://yalejreg.com/nc/more-thoughts-on-the-cfpb-puzzle-president-trump-can-select-someone-to-run-the-cfpb-only-if-the-senate-has-an-opportunity-to-confirm-by-nina-a-mendelson/|title=More Thoughts on the CFPB Puzzle: President Trump Can Select Someone to Run the CFPB Only if the Senate Has an Opportunity to Confirm, by Nina A. Mendelson {{!}} Notice & Comment|website=yalejreg.com|language=en-US|access-date=December 12, 2017}}

The Federal Vacancies Reform Act (FVRA) allows the president to appoint an interim replacement for an appointed officer of an executive agency without Senate confirmation, but the FVRA does not provide the "exclusive means" for filling a vacancy when "a statutory provision...designates an officer or employee to perform the functions and duties of a specified office temporarily in an acting capacity." The law establishing the CFPB (the Dodd–Frank Act) is arguably unclear about whether the director's resignation qualifies as "unavailability" under FVRA, leading to confusion as to who would lead the agency and setting up a legal battle.{{Cite web|url=https://theintercept.com/2017/11/24/richard-cordray-sets-up-titanic-struggle-for-control-of-the-consumer-protection-bureau-with-last-minute-move/|title=Richard Cordray Sets Up Titanic Struggle For Control of the Consumer Protection Bureau with Last-Minute Move|last=Dayen|first=David|date=November 24, 2017|website=The Intercept|language=en-US|access-date=November 25, 2017}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-richard-cordray-cfpb-20171124-story.html|title=Trump names Mulvaney as acting CFPB chief as Richard Cordray departs|last=Puzzanghera|first=Jim|date=November 24, 2017|website=Los Angeles Times|language=en-US|access-date=November 25, 2017}}

The Office of Legal Counsel has consistently interpreted the FVRA as providing a non-exclusive option for appointing a successor when another, more specific option exists in another statute (in this case, the Dodd–Frank Act). The Office of Legal Counsel thus released an opinion that the FVRA gives

the President the right to appoint an interim successor in this case.{{cite web|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/business/wp/2017/11/25/white-house-consulted-justice-department-before-naming-cfpb-critic-to-lead-agency/|title=White House consulted Justice Department before naming CFPB critic to lead agency, administration says|first=Renae|last=Merle|date=November 25, 2017|publisher=|accessdate=November 29, 2017|via=www.washingtonpost.com}} The top lawyer at the CFPB concurred with the Trump administration's opinion and directed all staff at the agency to disregard English's claims to be the Acting Director.{{cite web|url=https://www.politico.com/story/2017/11/26/consumer-bureau-trump-english-cordray-260062|title=Consumer bureau's top lawyer sides with Trump in leadership clash|first=Lorraine|last=Woellert|date=November 26, 2017|work=Politico|accessdate=December 16, 2017|via=www.politico.com}}

She resigned from office on July 9, 2018, in light of President Trump's nomination of Kathy Kraninger to serve as CFPB director full-time.{{cite news |last=Puzzanghera |first=Jim |work=Los Angeles Times |date=July 6, 2018 |accessdate=July 9, 2018 |title=Leandra English resigns from CFPB and drops her legal fight to be its acting director |url=https://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-leandra-english-cfpb-20180706-story.html}}{{cite news |last=Hall |first=Phil |publisher=National Mortgage Professional Magazine |date=July 9, 2018 |accessdate=July 9, 2018 |title=Leandra English Quits CFPB |url=https://nationalmortgageprofessional.com/news/67716/leandra-english-quits-cfpb}} She was succeeded by Brian Johnson, who was appointed to serve in an acting capacity.{{cite news |last=Lane |first=Sylvan |work=The Hill |date=July 9, 2018 |access-date=July 9, 2018 |title=Mulvaney appoints top aide as consumer bureau acting No. 2 |url=https://thehill.com/policy/finance/396188-mulvaney-appoints-top-aide-as-consumer-bureau-acting-no-2/}}

In 2020, English was named a volunteer member of the Joe Biden presidential transition Agency Review Team to support transition efforts related to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.{{cite web|title=Agency Review Teams|url=https://buildbackbetter.com/the-transition/agency-review-teams/|accessdate=10 November 2020|website=President-Elect Joe Biden}}

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Category:Alumni of the London School of Economics

Category:Living people

Category:New York University alumni

Category:Obama administration personnel

Category:People of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

Category:First Trump administration personnel

Category:United States Office of Management and Budget officials

Category:Year of birth missing (living people)