Budget Director Mulvaney warns his new Consumer Financial Protection powers ‘should frighten people’

White House Budget Director Mick Mulvaney told Fox Business anchor Lou Dobbs that Americans should be frightened by his disputed appointment as acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

"The authority that I have now as acting director really should frighten people," Mulvaney admitted.

President Donald Trump designated Mulvaney as acting director of the CFPB following the departure of Richard Cordray.

The validity of the appointment, however, is under dispute.

Former Director Cordray named staffer Leandra English as acting director.

The Trump administration argues the filling of the vacancy should go to the president under the 1998 Federal Vacancies Reform Act, while congressional Democrats argue the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform law mandates the agency's deputy director take over.

United States District Court Judge Timothy Kelly ruled against English on Tuesday, but Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), who helped establish the CFPB, expected an appeal of the ruling.

“It’s too important to everyone to let it rest at the district court. The parties are entitled to take an appeal to the Court of Appeals, and I have no doubt they will,” Senator Warren predicted.