"Rumors that I’m going to set the place on fire or blow it up or lock the doors are completely false," acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Mick Mulvaney said. | Jacquelyn Martin/AP Photo Mulvaney imposes temporary hiring, regulations freeze on CFPB

Mick Mulvaney, President Donald Trump's pick for acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, said Monday he has no immediate plans to dismantle the agency, but he nonetheless implemented a temporary freeze on hiring and new regulations.

"Rumors that I’m going to set the place on fire or blow it up or lock the doors are completely false," Mulvaney, a longtime critic of the bureau, told reporters during a briefing at CFPB headquarters.


He insisted that his first day at the CFPB was "extraordinarily smooth and professional" despite an unfolding fight for control of the bureau between himself and Leandra English, who on Friday was appointed acting director by outgoing chief Richard Cordray.

Both the hiring freeze and the freeze on all new regulations and guidance will last for 30 days, as will a separate freeze on civil penalty payments. Mulvaney stressed that the bureau will continue to meet its legal and statutory deadlines.

Mulvaney, who also serves as director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, said he'll spend three days a week at CFPB and another three days at OMB.

His first day at CFPB included a meeting with senior staff and a broader meeting with several dozen more employees. He did not have any contact with English, he said, but he did not rule out a meeting with her if she shows up to work.

In addition, Mulvaney said he has not taken any steps to fire English, who filed a lawsuit against him and Trump on Sunday and asked the court to establish her authority as acting director. Mulvaney said she had the right as a private citizen to file the suit.

Mulvaney said he expects Trump to name a permanent CFPB director "as quickly as possible." He added that he will respect any effort by the court to prevent him from acting as director, but he said he believes the White House is accurately interpreting the law.

The former South Carolina congressman met with Trump Monday. The president told him he "wants me to get [the bureau] back to the point where it can protect people without trampling on capitalism," according to Mulvaney.

Mulvaney reiterated his longstanding criticism that the CFPB has unchecked power, but he said it's up to Congress to change that.

"It is a completely unaccountable agency, and I think that’s wrong," he said, adding later, "If the law allowed this place not to exist, I’d sit down with the president to try to make the case that other agencies can do this job well if not more effectively.”