adminLast Friday, President Donald Trump selected Kathy Kraninger, a little-known White House budget official, as the next director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, setting up what is likely to be a bruising battle in Congress over the controversial young agency.
Kraninger works under Mick Mulvaney at the Office of Management and Budget. Her surprise selection to head the CFPB — including an unusual Saturday rollout — would ensure that Mulvaney, whose tumultuous six-month tenure as acting director of the bureau has drawn the ire of consumer advocates and Democrats, continues to have influence over the agency created in the wake of the financial crisis.
Any Trump nominee would have to survive a stormy confirmation process to lead the divisive consumer bureau, which was conceived and set up by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass). Republicans have repeatedly tried to defang the watchdog, which they see as a symbol of executive overreach. Democrats see the agency – which is funded by the Federal Reserve and not subject to congressional influence over its budget – as the rare independent bulwark against the reach of big financial firms. Read more.
