Washington, D.C. – Tomorrow at 10 AM, the Senate Banking Committee will hold a confirmation hearing for several Trump appointees to regulatory finance roles, including Jonathan McKernan as director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).
Since Trump’s inauguration, the CFPB has been ordered to freeze virtually all actions, rulemaking, and pending litigation to reevaluate the overall role of the agency. Lawsuits have left the CFPB’s status in limbo.
Yaël Ossowski, Deputy Director of the Consumer Choice Center, an international consumer advocacy group based in Washington D.C., reacted to McKernan’s potential confirmation and the future of the CFPB:
“The CFPB was designed to help financial consumers navigate the marketplace and punish bad actors but morphed into a tool of federal regulators seeking to slow innovation in the sector. If the CFPB continues to exist under McKernan, it should return to its mandate, shed political agendas, and support consumer innovation,” said Ossowski.
Ossowski added, “Since its founding, the CFPB has avoided offering constructive guidance to institutions, including upcoming neobanks and FinTech firms. Most of CFPB’s time is spent defending its own existence in federal court rather than advancing legitimate consumer protection cases.
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After weeks of consternation in Washington about whether the CFPB would be closed down entirely, the Trump administration indicated on Tuesday that the bureau would remain functional.
“Policing fraud and deception in our financial markets is an important role for the federal government to play, so if CFPB remains, it should be laser-focused on protecting consumers and not obstructing financial innovation that gives consumers more options,” concluded Ossowski.
The Consumer Choice Center is an independent, nonpartisan consumer advocacy group championing the benefits of freedom of choice, innovation, and abundance in everyday life for consumers in over 100 countries. We closely monitor regulatory trends in Washington, Brussels, Ottawa, Brasilia, London, and Geneva. Find out more at consumerchoicecenter.org