Press enter questions during his first day on the job, he is remaining as white house budget director. About linda english. This is 20 minutes. Thank you all very much for doing this, welcome to see spv. My role as acting director was extraordinarily smooth. We met with the Senior Leadership team, the toxics are seven folks here met again in the afternoon with a Broader Group healths or four dozen folks, how this intimate you told them an annual take a couple questions, this is an ordinary course of business in washington dc. Is what are witnessing happens everything couple of years, it is a transition, it happens that they had never been through a transition before. It was inevitable at some point. It was even now or in july and mr. Trump would get a chance to put someone so i had a chance to walk through with a lot of folks who have not been through transition what they should expect. They should expect that this agency will stay open. Rumors that im going to blow it up or lock the doors. Are completely false. Im a member of the executive branch of government and that includes the provision of dodd frank that govern the cfp b. The way we go about it and way we enforce it will be different under the Current Administration than it was under the last. Anybody who thinks that a Trump Administration will be the same as an Obama Administration is naive. Elections have consequences at every agency and that includes the cfpb. I dont have specifics yet how that will translate into action in terms of the the new attitude in light of the fact that the Trump Administration is now in charge but i will tell you what is happening immediately. Effective today, we put something similar in place here to what we did across the entire executive branch at the outset of the administration. We did a 90 day hiring freeze, we put a 30 day hiring freeze here at cfp b. More important like, we did a 30 day immediate freeze anything in the pipeline stops for at least 30 days while i get a chance to see what is going on and kick the tires here at the bureau. Additionally, there will be no payments out of the Civil Penalties fund for at least 30 days until i see what is happening with that. There is an excess of 50 million in the fund and i want to know what that is about before we make distributions. There is going to be exceptions to this. I talked with legal some today and enforcement and things that are going on in existing lawsuits. I will be briefed tomorrow on 100 or so lawsuits that the bureau is involved with. Clearly if there are statutory deadlines, they will be met. If there are legal deadlines as far as the litigation, in terms of anything that is discretionary we are putting a 30 day hold on it here. Is too earlyat, it to see how things will be different. I will be briefed on the Enforcement Actions and the investigations some of the , rulemaking that is in the pipeline and have more idea tomorrow as to what some of the next steps may be. Lastly then i will take questions, folks have asked me if i am going to be here. Some folks in the press have asked that, some folks here at the agency, the bureau have asked. The president has made it clear he wants me here and since my name is on the door now i want to be here, i do not want anything coming out of here that i do not know about because it will be linked to me. Good quality work that this administration could be proud of. I will be here across the street. It adds up to more than three five days a week but that is life. I have been a Small Business owner before and i have worked 16 hours a day. If you started your own business it is not something new. Have you know that working a done it more than once you know that working a little extra , isnt that big a deal in the final scheme of things. With that, i will take some questions for a couple of minutes if that is all right. [inaudible] it and get me to fix it back to the point where it can protect people without trampling on capitalism, without choking off the access to Financial Services that are so critical to so many folks. And folks in the lower and middle classes and people who are trying to get credit for the very first time. We need to follow the law and protect citizens but do so that doesnt choke off the access to capital. What does that mean, the access to money for people to succeed in their private lives. Thats the charge he has given me. We both share the belief had that this bureau under the previous and ministration had gone too far over towards stranging access to capital and making a different difficult for finances to flow as a result and folks are hurt. That the Court Decides to issue a temporary restraining order and order not to come into the building, we will follow the law. The president is interested in naming of replacement. My guess is you will see fairly Swift Movement on that. Swift movement on the president s part has very rarely translated into Swift Movement on the senates part. We will see how long it takes. We will go across the room. [inaudible] i have read the legal opinion of not only the department of justice but more interestingly, as interestingly the opinion of the general counsel here. Saying the president is right. My guess is the court will hear the same arguments from capable folks. That the Court Decides to issue a temporary restraining order ordering me to not commend the building, i will follow the law. That is what we do in the executive branch. I am Going Forward tonight and tomorrow assuming that i am here and i will be here until the court or the president tells me otherwise. [inaudible] i dont know how to answer that question. I talk about my previous statements about the bureau. My opinion of the structure of the cfpb has not changed. I still think its an awful example of a bureaucracy that that has gone wrong when it is almost entirely unaccountable to the people who are supposed to oversee it or pay for it. I still have the same fundamental principles about the way this bureau is structured. I think it is wrong to have a completely unaccountable federal bureaucracy. It is completely wrong. Im learning about the powers i have as acting director, they would frighten you most of you and worry you to think about how little oversight congress has over me as the director and the committees have how cfpb functions. If you really studied the constitutional nature of our government and study the way the bureaucracy is supposed to work, it would frighten and disturber you this distribute independent this agency is and as to the extent we are having a successon challenged as lodged by ms. English that grows out of an agency that does president think they are accountable. None of that has changed. I cannot change a lot of it because it is statutory. I am running the agency [inaudible] [inaudible] you look at the line it was a joke in a sick, sad kind of way. The sentiment is the same. The reasons that i said that, the reasons that i still believe that this that agency is flawed. Look at it this way, when i was in congress, if you if the cfpb did to you back home that you did not like, there was literally nowhere for you to turn for redress, you could not call a senator. You couldnt call the president. And it is a completely Unaccountable Agency and i think thats wrong. I think citizens should have some ability to hold the bureaucracy accountable. They cannot hear. That is why we need structural and legislative change the way this place is run. That is outside the bounds. For the director to fix. [inaudible] i think it is most awkward for the people who work here. I do not know her. I have not met her. I read a couple of headlines and two folks who two people showed up claiming to be director. I think it is more uncomfortable for the people who work here. She is a private citizen. And i understand she brought the lawsuit. I assume she is paying for her own lawyers. And did not approve that lawsuit and purporting to be acting in her role, thats not accurate. She has the right to do that. And well move on here and let the courts do its will. I did not see her. I have been here since 7 30 p. M. 7 30 a. M. Im going to go this way. [inaudible] asked questions. I was very candid with them and i told them, im not shutting the place down. We are going to run it differently. I think they appreciated that. These are professional people, have been here for five years they have been in government for five or 10 or 15 or 20 years. They are professional. They know the gig. I hope they appreciate the , it washey showed to me extra narrowly professional and i have no complaints and i hope they do not either. [inaudible] i would sit down and try to make the case that other agencies could do this job just as or more effectively. If i had the chance to change it and put it on appropriations subject to oversight with congress i would do that. I have none of that flexibility as the director of this bureau. [inaudible] im not in a position. I will be here all this week. All the tomorrow and thursday going through the ranks and pipeline. Once its gone from here, the next step in the review process would be a c. R. A. Much as i think the president just signed today on the arbitration rules. Thats the ordinary course of business and we are going to follow the ordinary course of business. Regarding ms. English, i havent met her, but im not sure how it works here. I have to find out what that is all about. Yes, maam. [inaudible] the president has called it that a couple of times. I did think it was interesting that one of the i have said not seen the lawsuit. I have heard a rumor that i am named as a defendant. I have been named, i have not seen the lawsuit and i have not been served. I am speculating but i have read accounts that one of the assertions is that this agency needs to be independent. I hear today media reports that ms. English is on the hill mr. Ing with ms. Warren and schumer. It makes you wonder who she wants to be dependent on independent from . Does she want to be independent from everybody or donald trump. My guess is the latter. I have no comments. [inaudible] my understanding is it has to be, number one in order for the president to fill this spot, it has to be senateconfirmed any way and every person would report to the president. And this is how it has been done here. The first acting director was the first treasury secretary. I will be as closely tied to donald trump as president as secretary geithner and mr. Cordray were to president obama. I dont think that is anything different. And the lawsuits may be illfounded and its the same. [inaudible] is there a question there . I will be as independent as donald trump as Richard Cordray and tim geithner were from president obama. [inaudible] to the payday rule, i think im getting briefed on the rules and regulations tomorrow. And that has gone over to the federal registry for printing but ill have more details on that. As to ms. English, she wants to show up tomorrow, she is still employed and her ideals are still valid and havent taken still pretty good or any steps to terminate her, if thats your question. [inaudible] i dont know the rules. But in the public sector, things are different. I do not know if a no call and no show for one day justifies termination. We will have to find out. We expect people to work. The people who are here are expected to work. Maybe she took a vacation day. I dont know. But well find out. We do expect people to work here. A buddy of mine wrote me this morning said you could get sued for showing up for work which is what i got sued. Sued for today apparently. We are going to go by the book. When it comes to dealing with any employee including ms. English. In the back. [inaudible] believe me, being budget director is a fulltime job. There is no question about it. This is going to be a heavy work load for weeks and months. Or however long i and a being here. Im absolutely comfortable with the team i put together at o. M. B. To cover this work load for whatever period of time this turns out to be and i hope to put a team here at cfpb. I was encouraged by the quality of people the professionalism of folks that i met here today and my guess is that it will be a lot of extra work, do both jobs for a period of time. [inaudible] im not going to relegitimate relitigate the causes of the financial crisis and what did and didnt happen. What agencies didnt do their job. Looking forward, i think you have to raise a question as to what happened today. I raised this question at cfpb. I hope to get some answers tomorrow. I was disturbed by what happened with wells fargo, what i felt that wells fargo was doing to their customers and i dont know that you saw the c. E. O. Came before the house Financial Services committee and i want to know cfpb gets credit for fining wells fargo but why did they miss it . What was happening here . We have elizabeth warrens dream of what an agency of is supposed to be and not to be worried about politicians and get free money from the Federal Reserve and been given every single tool necessary. I think from the outside looking in. Maybe i will find out Something Different when i am briefed. But every single tool necessary to either prevent that from fargo andat wells they did none of those things. Can you regularly regulate out bad behavior . I dont think you can. Are we going to fulfill a Important Role . To make sure we are looking over the shoulder of folks were trying to take advantage of consumers, absolutely. We are going to continue in that function. At the same time, to think that the cfpb is going to prevent the next financial crisis is a little naive if they couldnt prevent wells fargo. You have to worry about that. [inaudible] what are you going to do to fill the void you talked about . Thats a fair question. I asked that issue today and i hope to get briefed tomorrow on the back ground on wells fargo and couple of other things and find out what went wrong and figure out how we can fix that. So that we can stop that kind of stuff next time. I think thats what any good direct or would do in these circumstances. Anybody who hasnt asked a question yet . [inaudible] not that i know of. I did not know the doj was working on theirs until i came out. Yes, sir. Last question. [inaudible] no. Not at all. Well keep you in the loop as anything develops. Appreciate your time. Cspans washington journal live every day with news and policy issues that impact you. Coming up tuesday morning, the week ahead on capitol hill and the white house. With bloombergs Stephen Dennis and the hills jordan fabian and the simpson centers Nuclear Expert talks about the u. S. Nuclear arsenal. Watch cspans washington journal live at 7 00 eastern tuesday morning. Join the discussion. With the busy week ahead for congress our Live Congress includes the Senate Banking committee tomorrow considering Jerome Powell to be the next Federal Reserve chair and that will be live tomorrow at 10 00 a. M. Eastern. Also the Senate BudgetCommittee Views its tax reform bill. See that live at 2 30 p. M. Eastern on cspan3. On wednesday the nomination of alex [inaudible] to replace tom price. Live coverage at 9 30 a. M. Eastern on cspan3. A billse takes of requiring members of congress and staff to take up antidiscrimination and harassment training. Cspan. Org or with the free radio app. Steny hoyer held around table discussion on the opioid epidemic. The surgeond by general as well as local Law Enforcement and Emergency Management officials. This is one hour 35 minutes