President Trump has nominated Jonathan McKernan to be the director of the CFPB, following his previous roles as a board member of the FDIC and senior counsel of policy at FHFA. This announcement comes after a turbulent week for the bureau.
McKernan brings a wealth of experience, having worked in the Senate as a senior financial policy advisor to Sen. Bob Corker and as counsel for the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. He has also served as senior counsel to the U.S. Treasury.
McKernan is taking over a bureau that has been effectively shut down by President Trump’s orders, with acting directors Scott Bessent, Treasury Secretary, and then Russell Vought, Director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, overseeing its operations.
Vought, the most recent acting director, made the decision to halt most of the bureau’s activities and funding. He justified this move by citing the Consumer Financial Protection Act and the bureau’s excessive balance of $711.6 million.
McKernan’s nomination will now go to the Senate for confirmation, where it is expected to pass. Interestingly, during his time at the FDIC, McKernan advocated for stricter oversight of large asset managers, a position that had support from former CFPB director Rohit Chopra.
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