Mick Mulvaney

Mick Mulvaney
Born	John Michael Mulvaney 21 7, 1967
Birthplace	Alexandria, Virginia, U.S.
Nationality	American
Occupation	Politician, political commentator, consultant
Title	Co-chair, Actum LLC
Known for	Director of the Office of Management and Budget, Acting White House Chief of Staff, U.S. Representative for South Carolina's 5th congressional district
Children	3
Awards	2025–26 Nixon Distinguished Policy Fellow (Cornell University)

John Michael "Mick" Mulvaney (born July 21, 1967) is an American politician, consultant, and political commentator who held several prominent positions in the administration of President Donald Trump, including director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) from 2017 to 2020, acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) from 2017 to 2018, and acting White House Chief of Staff from January 2019 to March 2020. Before joining the executive branch, Mulvaney represented South Carolina's 5th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 2011 to 2017 and served in the South Carolina General Assembly from 2007 to 2011. A self-described fiscal conservative, he gained attention in Congress for his willingness to use government shutdowns as leverage in budget negotiations during the Obama presidency. His career in the Trump administration was marked by overlapping roles, a significant reduction in the CFPB's regulatory activities, and involvement in the events surrounding the first impeachment of Donald Trump. After leaving government service in January 2021—resigning as U.S. Special Envoy for Northern Ireland following the storming of the U.S. Capitol—Mulvaney transitioned into media commentary and consulting, serving as a contributor for CBS News, NewsNation, and CNBC, and as co-chair of the global consultancy Actum LLC.

Early Life

Mick Mulvaney was born John Michael Mulvaney on July 21, 1967, in Alexandria, Virginia. He grew up in a family with ties to the Charlotte metropolitan area and the surrounding region of the Carolinas. Mulvaney's background included connections to the Catholic Church, and he was identified as a Catholic during his political career in South Carolina.

Details about Mulvaney's childhood and family upbringing are limited in publicly available sources. He was raised in the suburban environment of the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area before establishing his political career in South Carolina. His eventual move to South Carolina and involvement in the state's political landscape would shape the trajectory of his public life for over a decade.

Education

Mulvaney attended Georgetown University, where he earned his undergraduate degree. He subsequently obtained a Juris Doctor degree from the University of North Carolina School of Law. He also studied at Harvard Business School. His legal and business education provided the foundation for careers in both law and real estate development before entering politics.

Career

South Carolina General Assembly (2007–2011)

Mulvaney began his political career in the South Carolina House of Representatives, where he represented the 45th district beginning on January 3, 2007. He succeeded Eldridge Emory in the seat. After serving one term in the state House, Mulvaney moved to the South Carolina Senate, representing the 16th district from January 3, 2009, to January 3, 2011. He succeeded Chauncey K. Gregory in that seat.

During his time in the South Carolina General Assembly, Mulvaney established himself as a fiscally conservative Republican. His state-level legislative experience served as a launching pad for his subsequent campaign for the U.S. House of Representatives, where he would seek to unseat a long-serving Democratic incumbent.

U.S. House of Representatives (2011–2017)

2010 Election

In 2010, Mulvaney ran for the U.S. House of Representatives in South Carolina's 5th congressional district, challenging fourteen-term Democratic incumbent John Spratt, who served as chairman of the House Budget Committee. The campaign took place during a favorable national environment for Republican candidates, coinciding with the Tea Party movement. Mitt Romney campaigned on behalf of Mulvaney in South Carolina, helping to boost his visibility in the race. Mulvaney defeated Spratt, ending one of the longest-serving Democratic tenures in a South Carolina congressional seat.

Tenure in Congress

Mulvaney took office on January 3, 2011, and quickly aligned himself with the fiscally conservative wing of the Republican caucus. He became a member of the House Freedom Caucus and gained a reputation for his hard-line stance on government spending and debt reduction.

As a freshman congressman, Mulvaney brought his perspective as a former state legislator and businessman to Washington. In a 2011 interview, he described his early experiences navigating the federal legislative process.

Mulvaney was a vocal proponent of reducing the federal deficit and limiting government spending. He participated in debates surrounding the Budget Control Act of 2011 and subsequent fiscal negotiations. In December 2013, he was involved in discussions surrounding a bipartisan budget deal, reflecting the ongoing tensions between deficit hawks and those seeking to avoid government shutdowns. Mulvaney served on the House Budget Committee, where he engaged with fiscal policy at a granular level.

Throughout his time in Congress, Mulvaney demonstrated a willingness to use the threat of government shutdowns as a negotiating tool to achieve spending reductions during the Obama administration. He was a consistent critic of what he viewed as excessive government spending and was among the Republican members who pushed leadership toward more aggressive fiscal positions.

Mulvaney was also a vocal critic of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which had been established by the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act in 2010. He questioned the bureau's structure, funding mechanism, and regulatory authority, positions that would later prove significant when he was appointed to lead the agency.

Re-election campaigns

Mulvaney won re-election in 2012, retaining his seat in a competitive race. He won again in 2014, as part of a broader Republican success in South Carolina that year. Election results from subsequent cycles confirmed his continued hold on the district.

When Mulvaney departed Congress in February 2017 to join the Trump administration, he was succeeded by Ralph Norman, a fellow Republican who won a special election to fill the vacant seat.

Director of the Office of Management and Budget (2017–2020)

President-elect Donald Trump nominated Mulvaney as director of the Office of Management and Budget in December 2016. The nomination drew attention in part because of reports that Mulvaney had failed to pay more than $15,000 in federal, state, and local taxes for a household employee—a nanny—which he disclosed during the confirmation process. Despite this disclosure, the Senate confirmed Mulvaney on February 16, 2017, by a narrow vote of 51 to 49, largely along party lines.

As OMB director, Mulvaney oversaw the preparation of the Trump administration's budget proposals, which called for significant increases in defense spending while proposing cuts to domestic programs and foreign aid. His role placed him at the center of the administration's fiscal policy.

During his tenure at OMB, the federal budget deficit expanded considerably. The deficit increases resulted from a combination of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, which reduced federal revenue, and increases in both defense and non-defense discretionary spending. The growth in deficits during a period of economic expansion was noted as unusual by fiscal analysts, representing a departure from the deficit-reduction stance Mulvaney had championed as a congressman.

Mulvaney's deputy at OMB was Russell Vought, who would later succeed him as director when Mulvaney took on additional responsibilities in the White House. Mulvaney remained on leave from the OMB director position from January 2, 2019, to March 31, 2020, while serving as acting chief of staff, before formally resigning from both positions.

Acting Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (2017–2018)

On November 25, 2017, while still serving as OMB director, Mulvaney was appointed by President Trump as acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The appointment was contested by Leandra English, the bureau's deputy director, who argued that under the Dodd–Frank Act, she was the rightful acting director following the departure of founding director Richard Cordray. A federal judge ruled in favor of the Trump administration's appointment of Mulvaney.

Mulvaney's tenure at the CFPB was marked by a substantial scaling back of the bureau's activities. Having been one of the bureau's most outspoken congressional critics, he took steps to reduce its enforcement actions and regulatory output. He renamed the agency the "Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection" (its statutory name), requested a zero-dollar budget from the Federal Reserve for one quarter, and restructured the agency's operations. The bureau's enforcement actions declined notably under his leadership, and he imposed new restrictions on the agency's ability to pursue cases against financial institutions.

Critics argued that Mulvaney was effectively dismantling the consumer protection agency from within, while supporters contended that he was correcting what they viewed as regulatory overreach by the previous leadership. He served in the role until December 11, 2018, when Kathy Kraninger was confirmed as the bureau's permanent director.

Acting White House Chief of Staff (2019–2020)

On January 2, 2019, Mulvaney assumed the role of acting White House chief of staff, succeeding John F. Kelly. Trump designated Mulvaney as "acting" chief of staff, an unusual arrangement that left some ambiguity about the permanence of the appointment.

As chief of staff, Mulvaney managed White House operations during a turbulent period that included the longest government shutdown in U.S. history (which had begun in December 2018), ongoing congressional investigations, and the events leading to Trump's first impeachment.

On October 17, 2019, Mulvaney held a White House press conference that generated significant controversy. During the briefing, he stated that the administration had withheld military aid to Ukraine in part to pressure the Ukrainian government to investigate a theory—rejected by U.S. intelligence agencies—that Ukraine, rather than Russia, was responsible for hacking Democratic National Committee emails during the 2016 presidential campaign. Mulvaney's comments, which he later attempted to walk back, became a focal point in the first impeachment of Donald Trump, as they appeared to confirm a quid pro quo arrangement that was at the center of the impeachment inquiry.

Mulvaney's tenure as acting chief of staff ended on March 31, 2020, when he was replaced by Mark Meadows.

U.S. Special Envoy for Northern Ireland (2020–2021)

Following his departure from the White House chief of staff role, Mulvaney was appointed as the U.S. Special Envoy for Northern Ireland, succeeding Gary Hart in the position. He officially assumed the role on May 1, 2020, and served during a period when Brexit-related tensions were affecting the political situation in Northern Ireland.

On January 6, 2021, following the storming of the U.S. Capitol by supporters of President Trump, Mulvaney resigned from his position as special envoy. He reported his resignation publicly on January 7, 2021, stating that he could not remain in the administration after the events at the Capitol. He was succeeded in the envoy role by Joe Kennedy III under the Biden administration.

Post-Government Career

After leaving government service, Mulvaney transitioned into the private sector and media. He became co-chair of Actum LLC, described as a global consultancy designed to address public and private sector challenges.

In 2022, Mulvaney was hired as an on-air contributor for CBS News. The hiring generated controversy within the network, with some CBS journalists and staff objecting to the decision given Mulvaney's history of promoting claims made by the Trump administration and his past criticisms of the news media. He subsequently moved to NewsNation and CNBC as a contributor, where he has provided political commentary and analysis on a range of domestic and international policy issues.

As a media commentator, Mulvaney has appeared regularly on outlets including Sky News Australia, discussing topics ranging from Trump's political activities to U.S. foreign policy. In a February 2026 opinion piece for NewsNation, Mulvaney argued that infrastructure should be a key focus for President Trump and Congress.

In August 2025, Mulvaney was named a 2025–26 Nixon Distinguished Policy Fellow at Cornell University's Brooks School, alongside Laura Chinchilla Miranda, the former President of Costa Rica. In December 2025, he delivered a keynote address at the Brooks School on the rise of populism in America.

Personal Life

Mulvaney was born in Alexandria, Virginia, and established his political career in South Carolina. He has three children. He has been identified as a Roman Catholic.

During his time in government, Mulvaney was involved in real estate and business ventures in the Charlotte metropolitan area and surrounding region of the Carolinas.

Mulvaney's resignation as U.S. Special Envoy for Northern Ireland on January 6, 2021, following the Capitol attack, was among the earliest departures by Trump administration officials in the wake of the event. His public statement about the resignation indicated a break with the administration over the events of that day.

Recognition

Mulvaney's career in government earned him a prominent profile in American political life, though his tenure was also marked by significant controversy.

In 2025, he was named a Nixon Distinguished Policy Fellow at Cornell University's Brooks School of Public Policy and Government, a fellowship that brought him to the university for public lectures and engagement with students and faculty. His keynote lecture at Cornell in December 2025 focused on the rise of populism in American politics and drew a full audience.

Mulvaney has been a featured speaker at events hosted by organizations such as the Federalist Society, where he is listed among its notable affiliated speakers and participants.

His appointment as a media contributor at CBS News in 2022 was itself a source of public attention, as it prompted debate about the role of former political officials in news media and the boundaries between political advocacy and journalism.