The announcement came just hours after outgoing CFPB Director Richard Cordray appointed the agency’s chief of staff, Leandra English, as deputy director, establishing her as his successor as he steps down today.

The two moves plunged the agency into confusion over the leadership of the bureau, which was established in the wake of the financial crisis and has become a lightning rod for attacks by Republicans and business executives for its aggressive enforcement…

The 2010 Dodd-Frank Act, which created the CFPB, explicitly says the consumer bureau’s deputy director shall “serve as acting Director in the absence or unavailability of the Director,” giving the edge to English.