Here's how Mick Mulvaney purposefully — and accidentally — bungled a government agency


President Trump's Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney slowly took apart the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau before finding himself in the White House, The New York Times Magazine reported Tuesday.
The CFPB was created, in part, by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) following the 2008 financial crisis. Per the Times, she envisioned it as an "economic equalizer for American consumers." But Mulvaney, then a member of Congress, was a fierce opponent of Warren's idea, believing it gave the federal government too much power over the market. Despite his disdain, he didn't hesitate to take over as the agency's director when called upon by Trump in 2017.
Slowly but surely, the Times reports, Mulvaney utilized bureaucratic inefficiencies, such as hiring his own people as "twins" for incumbent senior officials, to slow the agency's efforts down. The new hires, some of whom had little experience in consumer enforcement, reportedly brought with them their political agendas and served as barriers between the officials and Mulvaney, making communication difficult. Junior staffers also told the Times they had to play games of "telephone" to figure out what was going on in the agency because Mulvaney was so secretive.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
But the dismantled efficiency wasn't all planned out — some of it had to do with inexperience. The Times writes that because Mulvaney had more experience interrogating regulatory agencies than running them, his own priorities "began to suffer." For instance, after he announced he was reconsidering a regulation, Mulvaney was unexpectedly stumped by how much red tape he had to go through to rewrite it. His staffers were forced to anyhow, despite having no new data that would serve as a basis for replacing the rule. The process stalled and the old rule might end up staying put unless Mulvaney's team comes up with something new by August. Read more at The New York Times Magazine.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.
-
The Supreme Court and Congress have Planned Parenthood in their crosshairs
Talking Points Budget bill, ruling threaten abortion access
-
Musk chatbot Grok praises Hitler on X
Speed Read Grok made antisemitic comments and referred to itself as 'MechaHitler'
-
AI scammer fakes Rubio messages to top officials
Speed Read The unknown individual mimicked Rubio in voice and text messages sent to multiple government officials
-
AI scammer fakes Rubio messages to top officials
Speed Read The unknown individual mimicked Rubio in voice and text messages sent to multiple government officials
-
SCOTUS greenlights Trump's federal firings
speed read The Trump administration can conduct mass federal firings without Congress' permission, the Supreme Court ruled
-
New tariffs set on 14 trading partners
Speed Read A new slate of tariffs will begin August 1 on imports from Japan, South Korea, Thailand and more
-
Elon Musk launching 'America Party'
Speed Read The tech mogul promised to form a new political party if Trump's megabill passed Congress
-
Judge blocks Trump's asylum ban at US border
Speed Read The president violated federal law by shutting down the US-Mexico border to asylum seekers, said the ruling
-
Thai court suspends prime minister over leaked call
Speed Read Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra has been suspended, pending an ethics investigation
-
Senate passes GOP megabill after Alaska side deal
The pivotal yes vote came from Sen. Lisa Murkowski, whose support was secured following negotiated side deals for her home state Alaska
-
Trump sues LA over immigration policies
Speed Read He is suing over the city's sanctuary law, claiming it prevents local law enforcement from cooperating with federal immigration authorities