Remember how when Mick Mulvaney became the acting CFPB director, he published an op-ed in the WSJ tilted “The CFPB Has Pushed Its Last Envelope.” The subhead was “We will exercise our power with humility and prudence to enforce the law faithfully.” Here’s the first paragraph:
When I arrived at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in November, I told employees that despite what they might have heard, I had no intention of shutting down the bureau. As members of the executive branch, we are charged with faithfully executing the law. The law mandates that we enforce consumer-protection laws, and we will continue to do so under my watch.
Mulvaney also quoted the famous passage from A Man for All Seasons about the importance of following the law, even laws that you might not want to follow. Over and over, the essay spoke of the importance of following the law. Here’s another quote from Mulvaney: “I intend to exercise our statutory authority to enforce the laws of this nation. I intend to execute the statutory mandate of the bureau to protect consumers.”
Mulvaney didn’t like the Bureau then–elsewhere, he called it a sad sick joke–and doesn’t like it now. He recently called for its elimination again. He may even have changed his mind. But he knew what Vought seems not to: that the job of officials in the executive branch is not to ignore the laws Congress has validly enacted, but to obey them.
Vought is doing more than pushing the envelope. He is sealing it.
