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John Michael Mulvaney (born July 21, 1967) is an American politician who served as director of the
Office of Management and Budget The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is the largest office within the Executive Office of the President of the United States (EOP). OMB's most prominent function is to produce the president's budget, but it also examines agency programs, pol ...
(OMB) from February 2017 until March 2020, and as acting White House Chief of Staff from January 2019 until March 2020. Prior to his appointments to the Trump administration, he served in the U.S. House of Representatives. Mulvaney, a Republican, served in the
South Carolina General Assembly The South Carolina General Assembly, also called the South Carolina Legislature, is the state legislature of the U.S. state of South Carolina. The legislature is bicameral and consists of the lower South Carolina House of Representatives and ...
from 2007 to 2011, first in the House of Representatives and then the State Senate. He served as a U.S. representative for South Carolina's fifth congressional district from 2011 to 2017. He was nominated as OMB Director by President-elect
Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...
in December 2016 and confirmed by
Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
vote (51–49) on . While confirmed as OMB Director, he served as acting director of the
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is an agency of the United States government responsible for consumer protection in the financial sector. CFPB's jurisdiction includes banks, credit unions, securities firms, payday lenders, mo ...
(CFPB) from November 2017 to December 2018, and as acting White House Chief of Staff from January 2019 until March 2020. After resigning as OMB Director and acting White House Chief of Staff, he served as the U.S. Special Envoy for Northern Ireland from March 2020 until January 2021. Mulvaney was known for his support for
fiscal conservatism Fiscal conservatism is a political and economic philosophy regarding fiscal policy and fiscal responsibility with an ideological basis in capitalism, individualism, limited government, and ''laissez-faire'' economics.M. O. Dickerson et al., '' ...
as a congressman, which included a willingness to shut down the government during
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...
's presidency. However, as OMB Director in the Trump administration, he oversaw an expansion in the deficit. The deficit increases were a result of both spending increases and tax cuts, and were unusually high for a period of economic expansion. A staunch opponent of the CFPB while in Congress, Mulvaney's tenure as acting Director of the bureau led to a considerable reduction of the bureau's enforcement and regulatory powers. In January 2019, Mulvaney became acting White House Chief of Staff. In a
White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in ...
press conference held on October 17, 2019, Mulvaney said the White House had withheld military aid in part until Ukraine investigated an unsubstantiated theory that Ukraine, not Russia, was responsible for hacking Democratic Party emails in 2016.
Mark Meadows Mark Randall Meadows (born July 28, 1959) is an American politician who served as the 29th White House chief of staff from 2020 to 2021. A member of the Republican Party, he also served as the U.S. representative for North Carolina's 11th c ...
succeeded Mulvaney as chief of staff. On January 7, 2021, Mulvaney reported that he resigned the day before as Special Envoy for Northern Ireland following the storming of the U.S. Capitol. In 2022, Mulvaney was hired as an on-air contributor for
CBS News CBS News is the news division of the American television and radio service CBS. CBS News television programs include the '' CBS Evening News'', '' CBS Mornings'', news magazine programs '' CBS News Sunday Morning'', '' 60 Minutes'', and '' 4 ...
. His hiring stirred controversy within the company due to his history of promoting Trump's false claims and attacking the press.


Early life and education

Mulvaney was born in
Alexandria, Virginia Alexandria is an independent city in the northern region of the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. It lies on the western bank of the Potomac River approximately south of downtown Washington, D.C. In 2020, the population was 159,467. ...
, to Mike, a real estate developer, and Kathy Mulvaney, a teacher. He grew up in
Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most popu ...
. He later moved to
Indian Land, South Carolina Indian Land is an unincorporated community in the northernmost part (the "Panhandle") of Lancaster County, South Carolina, United States. It lies east of Fort Mill, just south of Ballantyne in southern Charlotte, and west of the villages of Marv ...
. He has Polish and Irish ancestry, with roots in
County Mayo County Mayo (; ga, Contae Mhaigh Eo, meaning "Plain of the yew trees") is a county in Ireland. In the West of Ireland, in the province of Connacht, it is named after the village of Mayo, now generally known as Mayo Abbey. Mayo County Counci ...
, Ireland. He attended
Charlotte Catholic High School Charlotte Catholic is a diocesan high school in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States founded in 1955. The school is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. It is located in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Charlotte. Ch ...
and then
Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private research university in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll in 1789 as Georgetown College, the university has grown to comprise eleven undergraduate and graduate ...
, where he majored in international economics, commerce and finance. At Georgetown, he was an Honors Scholar of the School of Foreign Service, and ultimately graduated with honors in 1989. Mulvaney attended law school at the
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United State ...
. He earned a full scholarship to attend law school, where his focus was on antitrust law. He earned a
Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice l ...
in 1992.


Early career

From 1992 to 1997, Mulvaney practiced law with the firm James, McElroy and Diehl. Mulvaney joined his family's homebuilding and real estate business. He participated in the Owners and Presidents Management Program at
Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate business school of Harvard University, a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. It is consistently ranked among the top business schools in the world and offers a large full-time MBA ...
. He was a minority shareholder and owner-operator in Salsarita's Fresh Cantina, a privately held regional restaurant chain.


South Carolina legislature


State House

Mulvaney was elected to the South Carolina House of Representatives in 2006.


State Senate

In 2008 an unexpected retirement created a vacancy in the South Carolina Senate. While in the State Senate, Mulvaney served on the Judiciary, Labor/Commerce/Industry, Medical Affairs, Agriculture/Natural Resources, and Corrections Committees. The Palmetto Family Council identified him as the Freshman Legislator of the Year in 2006 for his work on the Woman's Ultrasound Right to Know Act, which required physicians to perform
ultrasound Ultrasound is sound waves with frequencies higher than the upper audible limit of human hearing. Ultrasound is not different from "normal" (audible) sound in its physical properties, except that humans cannot hear it. This limit varies ...
s on pregnant women seeking
abortion Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pre ...
s and inform them of the
fetus A fetus or foetus (; plural fetuses, feti, foetuses, or foeti) is the unborn offspring that develops from an animal embryo. Following embryonic development the fetal stage of development takes place. In human prenatal development, fetal dev ...
' gestational age before performing the procedure. In 2010 he was named Legislator of the Year for his work in support of the State's Emergency Medical Services (EMS). He has received one of the few A+ ratings in the entire legislature from the South Carolina Club for Growth.


U.S. House of Representatives


Elections

2010 Mulvaney, a
GOP Young Gun The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) is the Republican Hill committee which works to elect Republicans to the United States House of Representatives. The NRCC was formed in 1866, when the Republican caucuses of the House and ...
, ran against Democratic incumbent John M. Spratt Jr. for . The race was highlighted by
Mitt Romney Willard Mitt Romney (born March 12, 1947) is an American politician, businessman, and lawyer serving as the junior United States senator from Utah since January 2019, succeeding Orrin Hatch. He served as the 70th governor of Massachusetts ...
's Free and Strong America PAC's "Take Congress Back: 10 in '10" initiative as one of the top 10 House challenger races. Mulvaney's involvement in the now-defunct Edenmoor real estate development in Lancaster County, South Carolina became a campaign issue, with his opponents alleging that he misled the Lancaster County council and taxpayers to provide $30 million in public funding for the real estate development and that once the public funds had been approved, Mulvaney sold his interest in the development to a third party at a $7 million profit. Mulvaney denied the allegations and said the project's failure was due to Democratic economic policies. He defeated Spratt, who had held the seat since 1983, with 55% of the vote. Mulvaney's campaign against Spratt was aided by a 501(c)(4) organization named the Commission on Hope, Growth, and Opportunity. The group, which was established by anonymous donors and run by lobbyist Scott W. Reed, was accused by the watchdog
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) and nonpartisan U.S. government ethics and accountability watchdog organization.''Washington Information Directory 2017-2018''; CQ Press; 2017; Pg. 327 Founded ...
of violating federal
campaign finance Campaign finance, also known as election finance or political donations, refers to the funds raised to promote candidates, political parties, or policy initiatives and referendums. Political parties, charitable organizations, and political a ...
laws and disclosing false information to the
Internal Revenue Service The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the revenue service for the United States federal government, which is responsible for collecting U.S. federal taxes and administering the Internal Revenue Code, the main body of the federal statutory t ...
. 2012 He won re-election to a second term by defeating Democrat Joyce Knott 56%–44%. 2014 He won re-election to a third term by defeating Democrat Tom Adams, a
Fort Mill Fort Mill, also known as Fort Mill Township, is a town in York County, South Carolina, United States. It is a suburb of Charlotte, North Carolina. As of 2020 census, 24,521 people live inside the town's corporate limits. Some businesses and resid ...
Town Council member, 59%–41%. Mulvaney co-founded the bipartisan Blockchain Caucus, "meant to help congressmen stay up to speed on
cryptocurrency A cryptocurrency, crypto-currency, or crypto is a digital currency designed to work as a medium of exchange through a computer network that is not reliant on any central authority, such as a government or bank, to uphold or maintain it. It i ...
and
blockchain A blockchain is a type of distributed ledger technology (DLT) that consists of growing lists of records, called ''blocks'', that are securely linked together using cryptography. Each block contains a cryptographic hash of the previous block, ...
technologies," and develop policies that advance them. 2016 Mulvaney faced Ray Craig in the Republican primary and defeated him 78–22%. Mulvaney was re-elected to a fourth term, winning over 59% of the vote against Fran Person, a former aide to then-Vice President Joe Biden.


Tenure

During his time in the U.S. House, Mulvaney aligned himself with the
Tea Party movement The Tea Party movement was an American fiscally conservative political movement within the Republican Party that began in 2009. Members of the movement called for lower taxes and for a reduction of the national debt and federal budget def ...
. He is a founding member of the
Freedom Caucus The Freedom Caucus, also known as the House Freedom Caucus, is a congressional caucus consisting of conservative Republican members of the United States House of Representatives. It is generally considered to be the most conservative and far ...
. He opposed
gun control Gun control, or firearms regulation, is the set of laws or policies that regulate the manufacture, sale, transfer, possession, modification, or use of firearms by civilians. Most countries have a restrictive firearm guiding policy, with onl ...
initiatives and the
Affordable Care Act The Affordable Care Act (ACA), formally known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and colloquially known as Obamacare, is a landmark U.S. federal statute enacted by the 111th United States Congress and signed into law by Pres ...
. In response to criticism for meeting with the paleoconservative
John Birch Society The John Birch Society (JBS) is an American right-wing political advocacy group. Founded in 1958, it is anti-communist, supports social conservatism, and is associated with ultraconservative, radical right, far-right, or libertarian ideas. T ...
in July 2016, Mulvaney said, "I regularly speak to groups across the political spectrum because my constituents deserve access to their congressman. I can't remember ever turning down an opportunity to speak to a group based on the group's political ideology."


Pay-to-play

In April 2018, Mulvaney told a room of banking industry executives and lobbyists that as a Congressman he refused to take meetings with lobbyists unless they contributed to his congressional campaigns. He said, "If you are a lobbyist who never gave us money, I did not talk to you. If you are a lobbyist who gave us money, I might talk to you." At the top of the hierarchy, he added, were his constituents: "If you came from back home and sat in my lobby, I talked to you without exception, regardless of the financial contributions."


Government shutdown

According to ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', Mulvaney took "a hard line on spending during President Obama's term, vowing not to raise the nation's debt limit and embracing the term 'Shutdown Caucus' because of his willingness to shut the government down instead." In 2015, Mulvaney voted against a government-funding resolution, which would have prevented a government shutdown, in part because it included funding for
Planned Parenthood The Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc. (PPFA), or simply Planned Parenthood, is a nonprofit organization that provides reproductive health care in the United States and globally. It is a tax-exempt corporation under Internal Reve ...
. Explaining his vote, Mulvaney said, "This is not about women's health. It's about trafficking in pieces of dead children." After his appointment as head of the OMB in 2017, he reiterated his conditional position of support for a shutdown.


Regulations

Mulvaney supported the Regulatory Improvement Act of 2015, which would have " reateda commission tasked with eliminating and revising outdated and redundant federal regulations".


Fiscal year 2014 budget

On December 10, 2013, Republican Representative
Paul Ryan Paul Davis Ryan (born January 29, 1970) is an American former politician who served as the 54th speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 2015 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party, he was the vice presidential nominee i ...
and Democratic Senator Patty Murray announced that they had negotiated the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013, a proposed two-year budget deal. The budget deal capped the federal government's spending for Fiscal Year 2014 at $1.012 trillion and for Fiscal Year 2015 at $1.014. The proposed deal eliminated some of the spending cuts required by the sequester by $45 billion of the cuts scheduled to happen in January and $18 billion of the cuts scheduled to happen in 2015. This did not decrease federal spending; instead, by reducing the amount of spending cuts the government was going to be forced to make by the sequester, it actually increased government spending by $45 billion and $18 billion over what would have been spent had the sequester remained in place. Some Republicans wanted Speaker
John Boehner John Andrew Boehner ( ; born , 1949) is an American retired politician who served as the 53rd speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 2011 to 2015. A member of the Republican Party, he served 13 terms as the U.S. represe ...
to pursue a temporary measure that would cover the rest of Fiscal Year 2014 at the level set by the sequester – $967 billion, rather than pass this budget deal, which would have $45 billion in additional spending. The deal was designed to make up for this increase in spending by raising airline fees and changing the pension contribution requirements of new federal workers. According to ''
The Hill ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
'', Mulvaney spearheaded opposition to the bill. He did not blame Ryan for the budget deal, instead saying the problem was that too few conservatives had been elected to Congress to pass a budget with a greater focus on debt reduction. Mulvaney said he expected the budget deal to pass because "it was designed to get the support of defense hawks and appropriators and Democrats", not conservatives. On April 9, 2014, Mulvaney offered a proposal based on the Obama proposal as a substitute amendment in order to force a vote on the President's budget request. The President's proposal failed in a vote of 2–413, although Democrats were urged by their leadership to vote against this "political stunt".


Presidential endorsements

In September 2015, Mulvaney endorsed
Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...
Senator
Rand Paul Randal Howard Paul (born January 7, 1963) is an American physician and politician serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, junior United States Senate, U.S. senator from Kentucky since 2011. A member of the Republican Party (Un ...
in the 2016 Republican Party presidential primaries. Committee assignments * Committee on Financial Services * Committee on Small Business ** Subcommittee on Healthcare and Technology ** Subcommittee on Economic Growth, Tax and Capital Access ** Subcommittee on Contracting and Workforce (chairman) Caucus memberships *
Republican Study Committee The Republican Study Committee (RSC) is a study group of conservative members of the Republican Party in the United States House of Representatives. As of 2021, the Chairman of the RSC is Representative Jim Banks of Indiana. Although the prima ...
*
Freedom Caucus The Freedom Caucus, also known as the House Freedom Caucus, is a congressional caucus consisting of conservative Republican members of the United States House of Representatives. It is generally considered to be the most conservative and far ...
* Tea Party Caucus * Liberty Caucus * Congressional Constitution Caucus * Congressional Blockchain Caucus


Office of Management and Budget


Nomination

On December 16, 2016, Mulvaney was announced as President-elect
Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...
's choice to be the director of the
Office of Management and Budget The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is the largest office within the Executive Office of the President of the United States (EOP). OMB's most prominent function is to produce the president's budget, but it also examines agency programs, pol ...
. Mulvaney's nomination as director-designate was reviewed in hearings held by the members of the United States Senate Committee on the Budget and the
United States Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs The United States Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs is the chief oversight committee of the United States Senate. It has jurisdiction over matters related to the Department of Homeland Security and other homeland s ...
then presented to the full
Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
for a vote. In his statement to the Senate Budget Committee, Mulvaney admitted that he had failed to pay $15,000 in payroll taxes from 2000 to 2004 for his triplets' nanny. Mulvaney said he did not pay the taxes because he viewed the woman as a babysitter rather than as a household employee. After filling out a questionnaire from the Trump transition team he realized the lapse and began paying back taxes and fees. Senate Democrats noted that Republicans had previously insisted that past Democratic nominees' failure to pay taxes for their household employees was disqualifying, including former Health and Human Services nominee
Tom Daschle Thomas Andrew Daschle ( ; born December 9, 1947) is an American politician and lobbyist who served as a United States senator from South Dakota from 1987 to 2005. A member of the Democratic Party, he became U.S. Senate Minority Leader in 1995 a ...
in 2009. On February 16, 2017, the Senate confirmed Mulvaney, 51–49, with Senator
John McCain John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American politician and United States Navy officer who served as a United States senator from Arizona from 1987 until his death in 2018. He previously served two te ...
of Arizona joining all 48 Democrats to vote against his nomination. Democrats opposed his nomination because of his past efforts to slash budgets, as well as his role in government shutdowns.


Tenure

During his tenure as OMB director, Mulvaney sought to influence Trump to cut
Social Security Welfare, or commonly social welfare, is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specifical ...
and Medicare. When he introduced himself to
Gary Cohn Gary David Cohn (born August 27, 1960) is an American business leader who served as the 11th Director of the National Economic Council and chief economic advisor to President Donald Trump from 2017 to 2018. He managed the administration's econo ...
, who was then Trump's chief economic advisor, Mulvaney said, "Hi, I'm a right-wing nutjob." While Mulvaney was known for his professed support for
fiscal conservatism Fiscal conservatism is a political and economic philosophy regarding fiscal policy and fiscal responsibility with an ideological basis in capitalism, individualism, limited government, and ''laissez-faire'' economics.M. O. Dickerson et al., '' ...
as a congressman, under Mulvaney's tenure as OMB Director there was a dramatic expansion in the deficit as a result of both spending increases and tax cuts. The deficits were unusually high for a period of economic expansion.


Manipulated unemployment numbers claim

In March 2017, Mulvaney said he believed that "the Obama administration was manipulating the numbers, in terms of the number of people in the workforce, to make the unemployment rate—that percentage rate—look smaller than it actually was," and that " at you should really look at is the number of jobs created." There is no evidence that jobs numbers under the Obama administration were manipulated. '' FiveThirtyEight''s
Ben Casselman Ben Casselman is an American journalist. He previously worked for ''The Wall Street Journal'', FiveThirtyEight, and is currently a business reporter for ''The New York Times''. Biography Casselman graduated from Columbia University in 2003. He ...
noted that "manipulating the jobs figures... would mean not just messing with one number but rather interfering with an entire ecosystem of statistics ndwould require a
conspiracy theory A conspiracy theory is an explanation for an event or situation that invokes a conspiracy by sinister and powerful groups, often political in motivation, when other explanations are more probable.Additional sources: * * * * The term has a nega ...
of massive proportions, involving hundreds if not thousands of people."


Criticism of the Congressional Budget Office

In March 2017, Mulvaney said the
Congressional Budget Office The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) is a List of United States federal agencies, federal agency within the United States Congress, legislative branch of the United States government that provides budget and economic information to Congress. Ins ...
was not capable of assessing the American Health Care Act, stating that " the CBO was right about Obamacare to begin with, there'd be eight million more people on Obamacare today than there actually are." According to FactCheck.Org, " e CBO actually nailed the overall impact of the law on the uninsured pretty closely... It's true (as Trump administration officials have repeatedly pointed out) that CBO greatly overestimated the number who would get government-subsidized coverage through the new insurance exchanges. But at the same time, CBO underestimated the number who would get coverage through expanding Medicaid. And whatever the failings of CBO's predictions, they were closer to the mark than those of the Obama administration and some other prominent forecasters."
PolitiFact PolitiFact.com is an American nonprofit project operated by the Poynter Institute in St. Petersburg, Florida, with offices there and in Washington, D.C. It began in 2007 as a project of the ''Tampa Bay Times'' (then the ''St. Petersburg Times ...
noted that "the initial CBO analysis of the Affordable Care Act did forecast that more people would participate in health care exchanges than actually did, but the CBO has revised those estimates. Moreover, independent analyses, as well as experts agree that the CBO offers some of the best estimates given the information available at the time." In May 2017, Mulvaney was critical of the
Congressional Budget Office The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) is a List of United States federal agencies, federal agency within the United States Congress, legislative branch of the United States government that provides budget and economic information to Congress. Ins ...
(CBO) after it estimated the version of the American Health Care Act passed by the house in May 2017 would result in 23 million fewer people with health insurance. Mulvaney said the CBO's assessment was "absurd" and that "the days of relying on some nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office to do that work for us has probably come and gone."


Trump administration's budget proposals

While promoting the Trump administration's budget proposal in March 2017, Mulvaney said that, as to taxpayers, the government was "not gonna ask you for your hard-earned money, anymore... unless we can guarantee to you that that money is actually being used in a proper function." For instance, Mulvaney justified cuts to block grants that go towards spending on
Meals on Wheels Meals on Wheels is a programme that delivers meals to individuals at home who are unable to purchase or prepare their own meals. The name is often used generically to refer to home-delivered meals programmes, not all of which are actually named ...
because it was "just not showing any results". Others disagreed with Mulvaney's statement, citing research that has "found home-delivered meal programs to significantly improve diet quality, increase nutrient intakes, and reduce food insecurity and nutritional risk among participants. Other beneficial outcomes include increased socialization opportunities, improvement in dietary adherence, and higher quality of life." On May 22, 2017, Mulvaney presented Trump's $4.1 trillion 2018 United States federal budget. The budget included cuts to the
United States Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other na ...
, the
Environmental Protection Agency A biophysical environment is a biotic and abiotic surrounding of an organism or population, and consequently includes the factors that have an influence in their survival, development, and evolution. A biophysical environment can vary in scale ...
, and the social safety net and increases in funding for defense spending and paid family leave. The "America First" budget included a 10.6% decrease in domestic program spending and a 10% increase in military spending, in addition to $1.6 billion for a border wall. The budget would remove $272 billion from welfare programs, including $272 billion from the
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program In the United States, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as the Food Stamp Program, is a federal program that provides food-purchasing assistance for low- and no-income people. It is a federal aid program, ad ...
, also known as food stamps. The budget would also remove $800 billion from
Medicaid Medicaid in the United States is a federal and state program that helps with healthcare costs for some people with limited income and resources. Medicaid also offers benefits not normally covered by Medicare, including nursing home care and per ...
, and $72 billion from
Social Security Welfare, or commonly social welfare, is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specifical ...
disability benefits, while removing nothing from Social Security retirement or Medicare benefits. Mulvaney projected the budget will not add to the federal deficit because future tax cuts will lead to 3% GDP growth. He described the budget as "the first time in a long time that an administration has written a budget through the eyes of the people who are actually paying the taxes." In December 2017, Trump signed the
Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 The Act to provide for reconciliation pursuant to titles II and V of the concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal year 2018, , is a congressional revenue act of the United States originally introduced in Congress as the Tax Cuts and Jobs A ...
. The
United States Congress Joint Committee on Taxation The Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) is a Committee of the U.S. Congress established under the Internal Revenue Code at . Structure The Joint Committee is composed of ten Members: five from the Senate Finance Committee and five from the House W ...
forecasted that with dynamic scoring, the $1.5 trillion reduction in revenues will increase the federal deficit by $1 trillion. Regulatory implementation of the tax cuts have been delayed by a dispute between Mulvaney and Treasury Secretary
Steven Mnuchin Steven Terner Mnuchin ( ; born December 21, 1962) is an American investment banker and film producer who served as the 77th United States secretary of the treasury as part of the Cabinet of Donald Trump from 2017 to 2021. Serving for a full pre ...
regarding the involvement of the
Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA ) is a Division within the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), which in turn, is within the Executive Office of the President. OIRA oversees the implementation of government-wide polici ...
. In February 2018, Mulvaney released the President's $4.4 trillion
2019 United States federal budget The United States federal budget for fiscal year 2019 ran from October 1, 2018, to September 30, 2019. Five appropriation bills were passed in September 2018, the first time five bills had been enacted on time in 22 years, with the rest of the ...
, which would add $984 billion to the federal deficit that year, and $7 trillion over the next 10 years. Later that month, the President signed the
Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 is a federal statute concerning spending and the budget in the United States, that was signed into law by President Donald Trump on February 9, 2018. Delays in the passage of the bill caused a nine-hour fundi ...
, which allowed yearly federal deficits to reach $1 trillion. In March 2018, Congress ultimately passed the $1.3 trillion Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018, which funded the government's operations until the end of the fiscal year in September.


Ethics waivers

On April 28, 2017,
Walter Shaub Walter Michael Shaub Jr. (born February 20, 1971) is an American attorney specializing in government ethics who, from January 9, 2013 to July 19, 2017, was the director of the United States Office of Government Ethics. As of July 19, 2017, he jo ...
, the Director of the United States Office of Government Ethics (OGE) issued a data request to see the ethics waivers given to ex-lobbyists in the executive branch, which Mulvaney refused, writing a letter that seemed to question OGE's authority to collect ethics records. On May 22, Shaub sent Mulvaney, in addition to every federal ethics officer, every inspector general, and the six members of Congress responsible for government oversight, a 10-page response reasserting his legal authority to see the ethics waivers. On May 26, Mulvaney sent a second letter denying that his first letter had questioned OGE's authority, and providing the information requested. Thereafter, on May 30, the White House complied with Shaub's data call by posting its waivers online. On August 1, Senators
Chuck Grassley Charles Ernest Grassley (born September 17, 1933) is an American politician serving as the president pro tempore emeritus of the United States Senate, and the senior United States senator from Iowa, having held the seat since 1981. In 2022, h ...
,
Dianne Feinstein Dianne Goldman Berman Feinstein ( ; born Dianne Emiel Goldman; June 22, 1933) is an American politician who serves as the senior United States senator from California, a seat she has held since 1992. A member of the Democratic Party, she wa ...
, and Gary Peters sent a bipartisan letter to Mulvaney demanding that the White House continue releasing its waivers on a continuing basis. On September 21, OGE's acting Director, David Apol, issued a memorandum declaring that the White House would comply with this congressional request. On October 19, the White House released a second batch of waivers on its website.


Government shutdown

In a press briefing on May 2, 2017, Mulvaney said a "good shutdown" of the federal government might be necessary in September. He defined such a situation as one "that fixes Washington, D.C. permanently". In the same conference call to reporters, Mulvaney defended a funding package which contained no funds for Trump's proposed border wall. The call became infamous after being plagued with technical problems and interruptions.


Consumer Financial Protection Bureau


Appointment

Former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski had encouraged the President to replace
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is an agency of the United States government responsible for consumer protection in the financial sector. CFPB's jurisdiction includes banks, credit unions, securities firms, payday lenders, mo ...
(CFPB) director
Richard Cordray Richard Adams Cordray (born May 3, 1959) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the COO of Federal Student Aid in the United States Department of Education. He served as the first director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFP ...
. As a congressman, Mulvaney had been a strong critic of the CFPB, calling it a "sick, sad" joke, and co-sponsoring legislation for its elimination. Trump appointed Mulvaney to serve as acting director of the CFPB under the Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998 (FVRA), which allows for the president to appoint an interim replacement without
Senate confirmation Advice and consent is an English phrase frequently used in enacting formulae of bills and in other legal or constitutional contexts. It describes either of two situations: where a weak executive branch of a government enacts something previ ...
. However, a dispute arose over whether Mulvaney can be so-named under the FVRA or whether a provision of the Dodd-Frank Act controls, which would make the deputy director,
Leandra English Leandra English is an American political advisor serving as an advisor to the Superintendent of the New York State Department of Financial Services. She formerly was the Deputy Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) from 201 ...
, acting director of the CFPB instead. This led to a court battle, '' English v. Trump''. On November 28, 2017, U.S. District Judge
Timothy J. Kelly Timothy James Kelly (born 1969) is a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia and former chief counsel for national security and senior crime counsel to the Senate Judiciary Committee. Biog ...
denied English's motion for a
preliminary injunction An injunction is a legal and equitable remedy in the form of a special court order that compels a party to do or refrain from specific acts. ("The court of appeals ... has exclusive jurisdiction to enjoin, set aside, suspend (in whole or in p ...
and allowed Mulvaney to begin serving as CFPB Acting Director.


Tenure

According to an April 2019 review of Mulvaney's tenure as CFPB head by ''The'' ''New York Times'', Mulvaney had undermined the enforcement and regulatory powers of the bureau. What was "perhaps Washington's most feared financial regulator" had through "strategic neglect and bureaucratic self-sabotage" begun to work against the very interests it was created to defend. Mulvaney immediately stopped hiring at the CFPB, stopped collecting fines, suspended
rulemaking In administrative law, rulemaking is the process that executive and independent agencies use to create, or ''promulgate'', regulations. In general, legislatures first set broad policy mandates by passing statutes, then agencies create more deta ...
, and ordered all active investigations reviewed. Mulvaney also sharply reduced agency personnel's access to bank data, arguing that it posed a security risk. On January 18, 2018, Mulvaney submitted a quarterly budget request for the CFPB to the
Federal Reserve The Federal Reserve System (often shortened to the Federal Reserve, or simply the Fed) is the central banking system of the United States of America. It was created on December 23, 1913, with the enactment of the Federal Reserve Act, after a ...
for $0. In January 2018, Mulvaney canceled an investigation into a South Carolina payday lender who had previously donated to his congressional campaigns. He also dropped a lawsuit the CFPB was pursuing against an online lender the bureau had found was charging 950% interest. Mulvaney suspended a short-term payday loan regulation. In addition to payday lenders, Mulvaney also scaled back efforts to go after auto lenders and others accused of preying on vulnerable consumers. By April 2018, more than four months after taking charge of the CFPB, Mulvaney had not undertaken a single enforcement action against finance companies; the previous CFPB director,
Richard Cordray Richard Adams Cordray (born May 3, 1959) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the COO of Federal Student Aid in the United States Department of Education. He served as the first director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFP ...
, averaged two to four enforcement actions per month. Mulvaney accepted nearly $63,000 in donations by payday lenders while he was a congressman. In April 2018, Mulvaney submitted the CFPB's annual report to Congress, in which he recommended the bureau's funding should be made to require congressional appropriations, that its future rulemaking should require legislative approval, and that he, the director, should be made removable without cause by the President. The
Community Financial Services Association of America The Community Financial Services Association of America (CFSA) is a trade association in the United States representing the payday lending industry. Controversy The payday lending industry has been the source of ongoing controversy due to its ...
, a
trade association A trade association, also known as an industry trade group, business association, sector association or industry body, is an organization founded and funded by businesses that operate in a specific industry. An industry trade association partic ...
representing the payday lending industry, praised Mulvaney's approach, calling it "relatively passive". In April 2018, it was reported that Mulvaney had given some of his political appointees at the CFPB raises. Mulvaney hired at least eight appointees after he took over the agency and created positions for some the appointees which did not exist under Cordray's tenure at the CFPB. In April 2018, Mulvaney said he would shut down public access to the CFPB's online database of consumer complaints where consumers could post complaints and the CFPB used to guide its investigations. Mulvaney said, "I don't see anything in here that says I have to run a Yelp for financial services sponsored by the federal government." As the database was mandated by law, it could not be shut down, only closed to the public. A review of Mulvaney's campaign contributions as a congressman showed that eight of the 10 firms with the most complaints about them had contributed to Mulvaney's campaigns. Under Mulvaney's successor, Kathy Kraninger, the proposal to keep complaints secret from public access was reversed, though corporations would be allowed space to respond to complaints on the CFPB's website, and the implementation of various changes to the way the complaints and enforcement actions would be presented, could present the subjects of complaints in a more favorable light. Under Mulvaney, at the same time publicly announced Bureau enforcement actions dropped to a quarter of their previous annual averages, consumer complaints rose substantially. In April 2018, Mulvaney announced a $1 billion fine against
Wells Fargo Wells Fargo & Company is an American multinational financial services company with corporate headquarters in San Francisco, California; operational headquarters in Manhattan; and managerial offices throughout the United States and intern ...
for fraudulent practices. The case against Wells Fargo started prior to Mulvaney's tenure, and there were reports that Mulvaney considered dropping the case. Amid this reporting, Trump warned that the bank would be fined. In May 2018, ''The New York Times'' reported that Mulvaney worked two to three days a week at the CFPB, a few hours at a time. In August 2018, it was reported that Mulvaney was considering rolling back oversight of military lenders. The Military Lending Act was devised to protect military service members and their families from financial fraud, predatory loans and credit card gouging.


White House chief of staff


Appointment

On December 14, 2018, Trump named Mulvaney as his acting White House chief of staff beginning in the new year. Prior to Trump's election, Mulvaney had characterized the future president as a "terrible human being," said he would be disqualified from office in an "ordinary universe," and described Trump's views on a wall on the US-Mexico border as "absurd and almost childish". On March 6, 2020, President Trump named Congressman
Mark Meadows Mark Randall Meadows (born July 28, 1959) is an American politician who served as the 29th White House chief of staff from 2020 to 2021. A member of the Republican Party, he also served as the U.S. representative for North Carolina's 11th c ...
as Mulvaney's replacement.


Tenure

Upon assuming office as chief of staff, Mulvaney appointed several individuals with views similar to his to White House positions, most notably Joe Grogan to lead the
United States Domestic Policy Council The Domestic Policy Council (DPC) is the principal forum used by the president of the United States for the consideration of domestic policy matters and senior policymaking, Cabinet, and White House officials. The Council is part of the Office ...
. In March 2019, Mulvaney said, "every single (health care) plan that this White House has ever put forward since Donald Trump was elected covered pre-existing conditions." The
Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. new ...
described the claim as "misleading" and
PolitiFact PolitiFact.com is an American nonprofit project operated by the Poynter Institute in St. Petersburg, Florida, with offices there and in Washington, D.C. It began in 2007 as a project of the ''Tampa Bay Times'' (then the ''St. Petersburg Times ...
rated this assertion "mostly false", stating that all the health care proposals supported by the White House would have weakened protections for individuals with preexisting conditions, and led to gaps in health insurance coverage and higher premium rates. On March 6, 2020, Trump tweeted that Republican North Carolina Congressman
Mark Meadows Mark Randall Meadows (born July 28, 1959) is an American politician who served as the 29th White House chief of staff from 2020 to 2021. A member of the Republican Party, he also served as the U.S. representative for North Carolina's 11th c ...
would succeed Mulvaney as White House Chief of Staff. Meadows began serving at the end of March, thus replacing Mulvaney. Mulvaney wrote an op-ed in the ''
Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
'' three days after the November 2020 election day, saying "If He Loses, Trump Will Concede Gracefully: He'll fight hard to make sure the results are fair, and in the end he'll accept the result whatever it is." Trump did not do so after his loss in the
2020 United States presidential election The 2020 United States presidential election was the 59th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 3, 2020. The Democratic ticket of former vice president Joe Biden and the junior U.S. senator from California Kamala H ...
.


Trump–Ukraine scandal

Mulvaney was closely involved in the Trump–Ukraine scandal. In an October 17, 2019, press conference, Mulvaney said that military aid to Ukraine was in fact tied to President Trump's demand for an investigation into the 2016 election. Several hours later, in a statement released by the White House, Mulvaney sought to deny or reinterpret his earlier statements, stating "there was absolutely no
quid pro quo Quid pro quo ('what for what' in Latin) is a Latin phrase used in English to mean an exchange of goods or services, in which one transfer is contingent upon the other; "a favor for a favor". Phrases with similar meanings include: "give and take", ...
between Ukrainian military aid and any investigation into the 2016 election".


OMB emails released

On January 22, 2020, Mulvaney released a series of heavily redacted
Office of Management and Budget The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is the largest office within the Executive Office of the President of the United States (EOP). OMB's most prominent function is to produce the president's budget, but it also examines agency programs, pol ...
(OMB) emails revealing details about how the OMB worked to carry out the freeze of aid for Ukraine.


Conspiracy beliefs regarding COVID

In February 2020, Mulvaney alleged that claims of a deep state working against President Trump were "absolutely 100% true". Later that month, Mulvaney suggested that the media was exaggerating the dangers of
COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quick ...
in order to "bring down" President Trump.


Subsequent career

Upon his resignation as chief of staff, Mulvaney was named special envoy for Northern Ireland, a role which had last been held by
Gary Hart Gary Warren Hart (''né'' Hartpence; born November 28, 1936) is an American politician, diplomat, and lawyer. He was the front-runner for the 1988 Democratic presidential nomination until he dropped out amid revelations of extramarital affairs. ...
, but had gone unfilled since Trump's inauguration. His swearing-in was delayed due to the coronavirus epidemic, which also prevented him from making a planned trip to Northern Ireland as envoy in July 2020. Because of social distancing restrictions, he was sworn in via a FaceTime call on May 1, 2020. In the aftermath of the
2020 presidential election This national electoral calendar for 2020 lists the national/ federal elections held in 2020 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included. January *5 January: ** ...
, ''
The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
'' published an
op-ed An op-ed, short for "opposite the editorial page", is a written prose piece, typically published by a North-American newspaper or magazine, which expresses the opinion of an author usually not affiliated with the publication's editorial board. ...
by Mulvaney which argued that Trump would concede if he lost the election; after Joe Biden won the election and Trump did not concede, ''
Politico ''Politico'' (stylized in all caps), known originally as ''The Politico'', is an American, German-owned political journalism newspaper company based in Arlington County, Virginia, that covers politics and policy in the United States and intern ...
'' named Mulvaney's prediction one of "the most audacious, confident and spectacularly incorrect prognostications about the year". Mulvaney resigned his position as special envoy on the evening of January 6, 2021, following the 2021 storming of the United States Capitol, U.S. Capitol protests in which a crowd of Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol building to protest the certification of President-elect Joe Biden's United States Electoral College, Electoral College victory. The next morning, Mulvaney told a CNBC reporter that his resignation had been principled: "We didn't sign up for what you saw last night. We signed up for Make America Great Again, making America great again, we signed up for lower taxes and less regulation." He added that Trump was "not the same as he was eight months ago." He suggested that other administration officials also planned to resign, while others planned to stay only to prevent Trump from filling their position with "someone worse" during his last two weeks in office. In 2021, Mulvaney was mentioned as a possible replacement for Kay Coles James as President of The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank. In March 2022,
CBS News CBS News is the news division of the American television and radio service CBS. CBS News television programs include the '' CBS Evening News'', '' CBS Mornings'', news magazine programs '' CBS News Sunday Morning'', '' 60 Minutes'', and '' 4 ...
hired Mulvaney as a paid on-air contributor. CBS News co-president Neeraj Khemlani said that the choice was part of a conscious effort to hire more Republican commentators: "Being able to make sure that we are getting access to both sides of the aisle is a priority because we know the Republicans are going to take over, most likely, in 2022 United States elections, the midterms". ''The Washington Post'' reported that the decision was controversial among network employees, due to Mulvaney's history within the Trump administration and its Presidency of Donald Trump#Relationship with the news media, adversarial attitude towards the news media.


Personal life

Mulvaney is a Roman Catholic. He married Pamela West, whom he met in line at a bookstore while he was a law student, in 1998. The couple have triplets (born in 2000), named Finn, James, and Caroline. Mulvaney's brother, Ted, is portfolio manager for Braeburn Capital, the investment arm of Apple Inc.


See also

* Timeline of investigations into Trump and Russia (2019–2020)


Notes


References


External links


Profile
at Office of Management and Budget * , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Mulvaney, Mick 1967 births 21st-century American politicians American people of Irish descent Businesspeople from South Carolina Catholics from North Carolina Catholics from South Carolina Catholics from Virginia CBS News people Charlotte Catholic High School alumni Directors of the Office of Management and Budget Walsh School of Foreign Service alumni Lawyers from Charlotte, North Carolina Living people Members of the South Carolina House of Representatives People from Lancaster County, South Carolina People of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Politicians from Alexandria, Virginia Politicians from Charlotte, North Carolina Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from South Carolina South Carolina lawyers South Carolina state senators Tea Party movement activists Trump administration cabinet members University of North Carolina School of Law alumni White House Chiefs of Staff