Consumer Financial Protection Bureau building in Washington, D.C. June 4, 2013. Photo by Diego M. Radzinschi/THE NATIONAL LAW JOURNAL

Updated 6:02 p.m.

A federal judge on Tuesday refused to undo the Trump administration's designation of Mick Mulvaney as the interim leader of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, rejecting an argument that the White House unlawfully sidestepped the appointment of another lawyer from within the Obama-era agency.

U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly in Washington, ruling from the bench, declined to grant a restraining order the agency's deputy director, Leandra English, requested Sunday night in a lawsuit in Washington federal district court. Before resigning as CFPB director last week, Richard Cordray promoted English, then his chief of staff, to the deputy role in an attempt to put her in control of the agency as the Trump administration moved to nominate a permanent, Senate-confirmed leader.