Senate Banking Committee Holds Confirmation Hearing for CFPB Director Nominee

Last week, President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), Jonathan McKernan, appeared before the Senate Banking Committee for his confirmation hearing where he promised lawmakers that he would not preside over shutting down the agency. His comment came in stark contrast to the Trump administration’s previous statement that it plans to disband the CFPB, though he did stress that it needs to be streamlined and accountable. 

“It’s clear that the CFPB suffers from a crisis of legitimacy,” McKernan told the committee, according to Consumer Finance Monitor. “This must be corrected if the CFPB is to reliably do what it’s supposed to do—look out for the American consumer. To that noble end, the CFPB needs to be made accountable to our elected officials and its past excesses need to come to an end.”

McKernan was opposed by Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), the top Democrat on the panel who helped create the Bureau in 2010. Warren pressed him about carrying out the “core” functions of the CFPB, citing Congressionally-mandated statutory responsibilities to keep the market transparent, fair, and competitive for consumers. 

Warren also asked McKernan if, upon being confirmed to lead the CFPB, he would end the stop-work order placed by the Trump administration. “If confirmed, I will follow the law… I will have to get advised on the specifics… I’m going to make sure that the CFPB performs each of its statutory functions,” McKernan said, according to PYMNTS. 

Alternatively, Republicans and industrial lobbyists have wanted to rein in the Bureau for several years, stressing that it is politically unaccountable and wrongfully shielded from the oversight of lawmakers. Reuters highlighted that McKernan mirrored these concerns, urging that the CFPB become more accountable to elected officials and “right-size” it instead of eradicating it. 

Other nominees who appeared before the committee were Jeffrey Kessler, the nominee for undersecretary of Commerce for industry and security; William Pulte, director designate of the Federal Housing Finance Agency; and Stephen Miran, the nominee for chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors.