But opponents of the CFPB raised Warren's profile even more, referring to it as her agency. And the same week that Warren was holding a rally on the steps of the agency, President Trump once again referred to her as "Pocahontas," ensuring that Warren would spend a few more news cycles all over TV.

Oh, and by the way, Warren is up for reelection next year, so all this free media no doubt will help her with fundraising in a race that surely will be nasty and expensive.

Payday Lenders – Like them or not, the payday lending industry was in for a huge takedown under the CFPB's final rules that will restrict the way they do business.

And now? It remains to be seen what Acting Director Mick Mulvaney does with those rules, but as a House member, he was in favor of delaying the rules. And a bipartisan group of House members has introduced a resolution nullifying the rules. While that resolution may pass the House, its future in the Senate is much murkier.

Still, the industry now has a friend rather than a foe in the director's office. And that can't hurt for an industry that just weeks ago appeared to be headed for a major takedown.

Losers

Richard Cordray – Cordray made a mess of things on his way out the door. He could have installed a deputy director a year ago, so when agency supporters argued that the deputy was supposed to be director when Cordray left, they would have had someone with experience to point to. The line of succession would have been clear.

Instead, the agency was run with an acting deputy director. And so, on his way out the door, Cordray elevated Leandra English to the deputy director's position and promptly quit.

The succession – even if judged to be legal – was far messier than it would have been if Cordray had established that line of succession earlier.

This likely won't help Cordray as he decides whether to run for the Democratic nomination for governor in his home state of Ohio. Supporters of the agency are said to be angry that Cordray left them high and dry.

Mick Mulvaney – Yes, Mulvaney's power and influence has increased tremendously with the CFPB as part of his portfolio. So, why would he be a loser?

He now has two full-time jobs. And at one of those jobs, the building is full of people who hate everything he stands for and would like to subvert everything he tries to do. You can't improve the climate by bringing in donuts like Mulvaney did on his first day.

Would you want that job? Government Shutdown? No Problem.

With all the talk about a government shutdown, it's easy to forget a simple fact.

The two agencies that affect credit unions the most – the NCUA and the CFPB – would stay open even if the rest of the government shuts down.

They're not funded through the annual appropriations process, as most federal agencies are.

Congress did that so that the agencies – and most financial regulators – would be independent of the appropriations process and thereby more immune from political pressure.

But in recent years, Congress has reconsidered the wisdom of that decision.

House appropriators tried to put the NCUA under the appropriations process this year, but the House nixed that move, voting to delete that proposal from the Financial Services Appropriations measure.

But this year, both the House and Senate have included a plan to put the CFPB under the annual funding process.

That ups the chances that any final spending deal cut by the House and Senate will put the consumer agency into the appropriations process.

If that happens, the CFPB would shut down if the rest of the government does.

Payday Party Days

There's been a lot of press about how many groups that might have had events at properties owned by President Trump are going elsewhere in an effort to avoid controversy.

But as first reported by the Miami Herald, the Community Financial Services Association is holding its annual conference for four days in April at Trump National Doral.

The property is a 90-hole golf resort about a dozen miles outside Miami.

Here's how the Trump folks describe the place:

"Doral's legendary golf resort was an instant hot spot when it opened in the 1960s, frequented by celebrities and icons of the time. More than 50 years later, The Trump Organization, innovators with deep roots in real estate paired with an enthusiastic passion for the game of golf, spearheaded the transformation, offering a new generation of style, service and exclusivity infused with the Trump standard of excellence."

Apparently, the payday lending industry – already the beneficiary of bad press – isn't afraid of a bit more.

David Baumann is a Correspondent-at-Large at Credit Union Times. He can be contacted at [email protected].