Jonathan McKernan, the candidate of US President Donald Trump, to be director of the Consumer Finance Office, is the day he testified during a confirmation audience of the Banque, Housing and Urban Business Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, United States, February 27, 2025.
Annabelle Gordon | Reuters
The choice of President Donald Trump to direct the financial protection office of consumers on Thursday resisted the grills of the Democratic senators who have repeatedly asked him to confirm that he would support his legal obligations to manage the agency.
Pressed by senators, including Elizabeth Warren from Massachusetts, Jonathan McKernan, a former member of the Federal Council of the Deposit Insurance Company, told legislators that he would “fully and faithfully” apply laws related to the CFPB mission.
“My legal career started just at the start of the 2008 financial crisis,” said McKernan. “Watching this crisis unfold gave me a lasting conviction that we must have a financial regulation system that works for everyday Americans. Consumer protection is essential for this purpose.”
However, McKernan clearly indicated that he disagreed with the way in which the predecessor Rohit Chopra directed the agency. In the opening remarks, he declared that the CFPB “acted in a politicized manner”, exceeded its legal authority, injuring consumers by inadvertently increasing prices and suffering from a “crisis of legitimacy”.
“This must be corrected if the CFPB must do reliably what it is supposed to do: search for the American consumer,” said McKernan, former lawyer and Senate assistant in the works bank.
Since the acting director of the CFPB, Russell Vought, took over this month, the agency closed its headquarters from Washington, drew around 200 employees and said to those who remain to stop the work. These movements, as well as an allegation of a CFPB union which intends to dismiss more than 95% of the agency staff, stimulated the fears that the agency makes the extinction.
Earlier Thursday, the CFPB rejected at least four applications in terms of application, including actions against Capital One and a Berkshire Hathaway unit.
American senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) speaks during a rally outside the Consumer Financial Protection Office (CFPB) on February 10, 2025 in Washington, DC.
Anna Moneymaker | Getty images
Warren insisted on McKernan if he maintained the statutory requirements of the CFPB, in particular having a website and a free line for consumer complaints, as well as advocacy offices for military veterans and the elderly.
“Each of the offices I think you mentioned is mandated by law,” said McKernan. “Yes, I’m going to follow the law.”
Making a list of public comments and the steps taken by the Trump administration which indicate that the office could be completely closed, Warren asked what point McKernan could be effective.
“We have a bit of the impression of having been aligned to be horse n ° 1 at the glue factory,” said Warren.
For his part, McKernan said that if it was confirmed by the Senate, it will “cut right” the CFPB, as well as “refocus it” and “make it responsible”.
Senator Jack Reed, D.-Ri, followed, adding that Vought had canceled the lease at the agency’s headquarters and rejected business against “predatory lenders”. Reed also mentioned the report according to which Trump and Vought, who is also head of the management and budget office, wish to eliminate the office.
“You are going to be placed in a very difficult position,” said Reed. “You do not seem to have much presidential support or support for the OMB, and I have that sinking that you leave Liverpool on the Titanic. Good luck.”
McKernan did not verbally respond to Reed’s comment, smiling only in a loud way, slightly nodding.
