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

A federal judge in Washington has given the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's deputy director, Leandra English, a Wednesday deadline to make her next push for control of the agency, which has been at the center of a power struggle following the resignation of its former leader, Richard Cordray.

English's second attempt at blocking the Trump administration's designation of White House budget director Mick Mulvaney to temporarily lead the CFPB will come in the form of a motion for a preliminary injunction that—if denied—could be brought before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

Leandra English. Credit: Credit Union National Association.

Last week, U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly of the District of Columbia rejected English's request for a temporary restraining order to shut out Mulvaney. In that ruling, Kelly said the Federal Vacancies Reform Act “on its face” appears to allow the president to name a temporary successor to Cordray. English, represented by Deepak Gupta of Washington's Gupta Wessler, has argued that the succession language in the Dodd-Frank Act—which created the consumer bureau—dictates that the deputy director steps in as the agency's acting leader in the event of the “absence or unavailability” of the director.

On Tuesday, Kelly ordered the Justice Department to respond to English's planned request for a preliminary injunction by Dec. 18 and set a hearing for the morning of Dec. 22. Amicus briefs supporting English's claim to the acting directorship will be due Friday, and those on the Trump administration's side will be due the same day as the Justice Department's response—Dec. 18.