The chairman of the Senate Homeland Security committee wrote today to the Office of Personnel Management to get information on how a political appointee at OPM became a senior career staffer at the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau. Leandra English was appointed by President Obama to the OPM and worked as chief of staff for the director of that agency. Just ten days before the end of the Obama Administration, that same director approved a request to make English a career, civil service appointee at the CFPB. In taking that step, the director of OPM allowed Ms English to bypass the civil service exams and to leapfrog over a large number of civil service employees at CFPB. To make matters worse, once Ms English got to CFPB, the director of that agency promoted her on multiple occasions and named her deputy director last week just as he was resigning from his own position. Suddenly a political appointee from the Obama presidency was being placed into a controlling position at CFPB and given civil service protection. The whole point of the civil service is to keep federal employees non-partisan so as to keep politics out of the process.
Of course, almost immediately after being appointed deputy director, Ms English brought suit to try to bar the actual acting director appointed by the President from taking office. She claimed that she was, in fact, the acting director. That claim was quickly rejected by a federal judge in DC, but it does show the lengths to which Ms. English would go to try to keep political control of CFPB.
Even worse than all this, however, is that Ms. English refuses to divulge who paid the legal fees generated in connection with her lawsuit. It is illegal for a government employee to take gifts from people in connection with a government matter. Any cash or in-kind contribution received by English was illegal, and if there were such contributions, Ms. English could be criminally liable.
The chair of the Senate committee asked for all sorts of documents regarding what transpired with Ms. English. Hopefully, that request will be complied with quickly and fully.
Of course, almost immediately after being appointed deputy director, Ms English brought suit to try to bar the actual acting director appointed by the President from taking office. She claimed that she was, in fact, the acting director. That claim was quickly rejected by a federal judge in DC, but it does show the lengths to which Ms. English would go to try to keep political control of CFPB.
Even worse than all this, however, is that Ms. English refuses to divulge who paid the legal fees generated in connection with her lawsuit. It is illegal for a government employee to take gifts from people in connection with a government matter. Any cash or in-kind contribution received by English was illegal, and if there were such contributions, Ms. English could be criminally liable.
The chair of the Senate committee asked for all sorts of documents regarding what transpired with Ms. English. Hopefully, that request will be complied with quickly and fully.
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