Trump’s Nominee For CFPB Head Says Gutted Agency Will Continue To Work
Key Points
- Jonathan McKernan, nominee for President Donald Trump, who led the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, said the agency will continue to perform its legally required responsibilities.
- In recent days, the Trump administration has almost shut down CFPB, closed its headquarters and told employees not to work.
- McKennan suggested that the agency will be “right size” in the future and “re-adjust” its mission.
President Donald Trump’s nominee told Senators Thursday that the agency will continue to be implemented by Congress, even though the Trump administration’s actions have almost removed the agency.
Trump’s CFPB director nominee Jonathan McKernan told Senate Banking Committee members that the agency will perform functions required by law, including laws targeting financial companies cheating their clients. The future of the institution is doubtful, as the White House has Order its employees to stop working and closed the headquarters. Influential Trump adviser Elon Musk called for “deletion” of the institution, and the White House demanded a $0 funding level.
“I want to enforce the law,” McElnan said at the hearing. “This is my commitment to you. It means enforcing every legally designated responsibility of the CFPB.”
McKernan faces an incredible barbecue for Democratic senators, including Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, who led the efforts to establish the bureau in 2010 after a huge financial crisis.
“It feels like you’re lined up to be the first horse in the glue factory,” Warren said.
Even if the hearing was held, the bureau’s legal team reportedly dropped several cases against financial companies, including $2 billion lawsuit against Capital One The bank allegedly cheated on customers for interest.
McKernan, a former board member of the Federal Deposit Insurance Commission, said the agency had surpassed its powers in the past, which was a joint criticism of the agency and suggested that the future CFPB would be a smaller CFPB.
“We have to refocus it on its mission,” he said. “We need to scale it right, make sure we have an effective CFPB, and we need to restore responsibility to elected officials.”
This approach would be in stark contrast to the situation under former President Joe Biden, who in the last few days faced major financial companies and Make rules for financial companiesincluding the $5 cap on overdraft fees, which banks challenged in court.