A Treacherous Transition

In November 2017, Cordray announced that he was stepping down. President Trump refused to recognize the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s deputy director as the interim leader, appointing one of his cabinet officers, Mick Mulvaney, to the post. Mulvaney, a sharp critic of the bureau, vowed a policy of inaction to slow the pace of enforcement and regulation. The chapter describes Mulvaney’s largely superficial efforts to undermine the bureau, his steps to roll back the payday lending rule, and his transfer of control a year later to the new confirmed director, Kathy Kraninger. It describes how the dynamics of federalism are helping protect consumers even in an era when the bureau has pulled back. And it discusses the bureau’s continuing work—including a further billion-dollar penalty against Wells Fargo for unfair and deceptive practices that greatly harmed consumers—and the importance of leadership in setting the bureau’s course.