The CFPB Fight Is Completely Pointless
Mick Mulvaney, who might sort of be acting director of the consumer protection agency.
Photographer: Alex Wong/Getty ImagesThe Trump administration has featured a succession of little battles between the establishment and the Trump people -- between #MAGA and #Resist. But none are quite as odd as the one playing out at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which as of this morning has two acting directors.
The battle for supremacy between two claimants, each asserting that theirs is the true right to rule, is something we associate more with medieval kingdoms than modern bureaucratic democracies. Still less do you expect it to be fought over such small stakes -- in this case, in the final analysis, they're battling for brief control over a minor agency with limited impact on the economy.