Mick Mulvaney

Over 30 current and former Democratic lawmakers filed a new amicus brief Monday supporting Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Deputy Director Leandra English to be reinstated as acting director of the agency.

Advocacy groups filed an amicus brief supporting Leandra English’s suit to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, arguing that President Trump's interim pick of Mick Mulvaney was illegal.

The agency has suffered a series of setbacks over the past two months, from a rollback of its arbitration rule to a legal battle over its leadership. Here's what happened — and where the agency might lose next.

Critics argue that the consumer bureau's independence is being undermined, and they worry that a precedent is being established that could hamper the autonomy of other U.S. financial regulators.

A federal judge said Tuesday that he will hear motions Dec. 22 in a case that seeks a preliminary injunction against acting Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Mick Mulvaney and would instead install Deputy Director Leandra English as interim head of the agency.

In a letter to President Trump, 44 Democratic senators said the White House's appointment of Mick Mulvaney as interim director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau "jeopardizes the agency’s independence and effectiveness."

The former heads of the House and Senate banking committees argued Thursday that the Dodd-Frank Act clearly intended to allow the CFPB's deputy director to serve as acting director after the full-time head of the agency departed.

With leadership of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau resolved by a federal court, the banking industry is eager to find out what interim head Mick Mulvaney plans to do once he gets a handle on the agency, including whether he will delay pending new mortgage rules.