NCUA Chairman McWatters on Shortlist to Head CFPB While New Staff Fill Key Positions

Even as the fight over who claims the interim director position heats up, pundits and the media continue to speculate on who will secure President Trump’s nomination to permanently lead the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). One potential nominee, current National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) Chairman Mark McWatters, saw his stock rise this week with the endorsement of an old friend, House Financial Services Chairman, Jeb Hensarling (R- TX).

McWatters previously served as counsel to Rep. Hensarling. He was an Obama nominee to the Export-Import Bank and later joined the board at NCUA. Trump promoted him to chairman of the credit union regulatory body in 2017. McWatters worked with CFPB-creator Senator Elizabeth Warren (D- MA) on a Congressional oversight panel as well, so his nomination could secure more bipartisan support than some of the other names on the CFPB director shortlist.

As McWatters’s name has grown in CFPB discussions, one potential replacement can likely be removed from the list- Keith Noreika. The former Acting Comptroller of the Currency recently returned to his old firm upon the confirmation of Joseph Otting as permanent director of the bank agency.

Whomever takes the reigns at the CFPB will have some familiar company from Hensarling’s House Financial Services (HFS) Committee. Kirsten Sutton Mork, former staff director at HFS,  was announced this week as the new Chief of Staff at CFPB. She joins former HFS Senior Counsel Brian Johnson, who has taken over as Senior Advisor at the consumer watchdog.