While Mulvaney joined the Trump administration to lead the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), tasked with protecting ordinary Americans from predatory financial firms, he was on much better terms with those financial companies and led a concerted effort to rein in the agency's powers, hiring political appointees to do work that was once done by impartial staffers.

Morale at the CFPB cratered after he took over, dropping more than 25 points – significantly more than at other agencies, according to the Partnership for Public Service.

A former South Carolina Congressman, Mulvaney was quite open about where his loyalties lay, telling an American Bankers Association conference in April: “We had a hierarchy in my office in Congress. If you’re a lobbyist who never gave us money, I didn’t talk to you.”

If you’re a lobbyist who gave us money, I might talk to you.

Trump announced Mulvaney’s appointment on Friday with a tweet, ending a week of speculation on who would replace the outgoing general. A shortlist reportedly included Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Vice President Pence’s chief of staff Nick Ayers, as well as former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, who abruptly withdrew from consideration for the post. Ayers, Trump’s original pick for chief of staff, also reportedly declined the position because the president wanted a two-year commitment and he could only commit until spring, when he plans to move to Georgia to work for a Republican superPAC.

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