{"id":2407554,"date":"2025-02-27T15:22:02","date_gmt":"2025-02-27T20:22:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/democrats-grill-consumer-watchdog-nominee-as-trump-vows-to-dismantle-agency-washington-examiner\/"},"modified":"2025-02-27T15:24:05","modified_gmt":"2025-02-27T20:24:05","slug":"democrats-grill-consumer-watchdog-nominee-as-trump-vows-to-dismantle-agency-washington-examiner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/democrats-grill-consumer-watchdog-nominee-as-trump-vows-to-dismantle-agency-washington-examiner\/","title":{"rendered":"Democrats grill consumer watchdog nominee as Trump vows to dismantle agency &#8211; Washington Examiner"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">28<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fdemocrats-grill-consumer-watchdog-nominee-as-trump-vows-to-dismantle-agency-washington-examiner%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2407554&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>During a recent Senate Banking Committee hearing, Jonathan McKernan, President Trump\u2019s nominee to lead the Consumer financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), faced intensive questioning from\u2062 Democrats regarding the agencyS\u200d future\u200b amidst efforts by the Trump administration \u2062to weaken it. McKernan stated that the CFPB is experiencing a &#8220;crisis of legitimacy&#8221;\u2062 and emphasized the \u2063need for it to remain accountable to elected officials and focus on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/nhs-director-calls-out-gwyneth-paltrow-for-covid-19-recovery-advice\/\" title=\"NHS ... Calls Out Gwyneth Paltrow For COVID-19 Recovery Advice\">consumer protection<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The \u200bhearing highlighted\u200b the contrasting\u2062 views between Democrats\u2063 and Republicans on the CFPB\u2019s role. Democrats\u200b defended the agency\u2063 as crucial for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/class-action-settlement-deadline-to-file-for-15-million-aw-settlement-today\/\" title=\"Today is the last day to file for the  million A&amp;W settlement in the class-action ...suit.\">consumer\u200d rights<\/a>, citing its record of returning over $21 billion to defrauded consumers, while Republicans criticized \u2063it as overreaching and unaccountable. Senators Elizabeth Warren and Raphael Warnock pressed McKernan on whether he would support the agency amidst Trump&#8217;s intent to \u2064reduce its power.<\/p>\n<p>McKernan avoided direct answers about the CFPB\u2019s potential elimination,\u200b stating that such decisions should be\u200b made by elected officials, and he underscored his commitment to the statutory\u200c mandates of \u2063the CFPB. The\u200b hearing was notably critical \u200bas it was the frist possibility for Democrats to question a Republican nominee on the \u2062agency, revealing the sharp \u200dpartisan divide on \u200cissues of \u2064<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/elizabeth-warren-abandons-mckinsey-disclosure-demands\/\" title=\"... Abandons McKinsey Disclosure Demands\">consumer financial protection<\/a>.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Democrats grill consumer watchdog nominee as Trump vows to dismantle agency<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_2022939\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/donald-trump\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"President Donald Trump\">President Donald Trump<\/a>&rsquo;s pick to oversee the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/cfpb\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)\">Consumer Financial Protection Bureau <\/a>faced a deluge of questions from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/democrats\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Democrats\">Democrats<\/a> on a key <a href=\"https:\/\/www.banking.senate.gov\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Senate panel\">Senate panel<\/a> seeking clarity on the fate of the agency, which has been at the center of the Trump administration&rsquo;s push to gut the federal bureaucracy.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>Jonathan McKernan, who was nominated to lead the CFPB, told the Senate Banking Committee during his hearing that the agency has &ldquo;acted in a politicized manner&rdquo; and is suffering from a &ldquo;crisis of legitimacy.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s clear that the CFPB suffers from a crisis of legitimacy. This must be corrected if the CFPB is to reliably do what it&rsquo;s supposed to do &mdash; look out for the American consumer. To that noble end, the CFPB needs to be made accountable to our elected officials, and its past excesses need to come to an end,&rdquo; he said in his opening statement.<\/p>\n<p>Under the acting leadership of Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought, the CFPB agency headquarters were <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/finance-and-economy\/3315317\/vought-closing-cfpb-building-for-a-week\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">shut down<\/a>, and federal funding <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/3329723\/vought-promises-more-streamlined-cfpb-announcement-bureau-remain-open\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">was cut off<\/a>, sparking legal battles.<\/p>\n<p>Lawyers for Trump&rsquo;s administration <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/3329723\/vought-promises-more-streamlined-cfpb-announcement-bureau-remain-open\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">said this week<\/a> in court filings that &ldquo;there will continue to be a CFPB,&rdquo; but what exactly that will look like is unclear. Trump has<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/politics\/live-news\/trump-doge-presidency-news-02-10-25\/index.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"previously said\"> said<\/a> his goal is to &ldquo;totally&rdquo; eliminate the agency as his administration works to &ldquo;get rid of waste, fraud, and abuse.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;That was a very important thing to get rid of, and it was also a waste. I mean, number one, it was a bad group of people running it, but it was also a waste,&rdquo; he said on Feb. 10.<\/p>\n<p>Democrats have argued that the agency is a critical safeguard for consumers who use financial products, pointing to the fact that the CFPB has returned more than $21 billion to consumers who were victims of fraud or scams. The hearing on Thursday was the first time Democrats were able to directly question a Republican official on the agency&rsquo;s future.<\/p>\n<p>Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), the top Democrat on the committee who helped establish the CFPB as a law professor in 2010, listed all the ways the Trump administration has halted CFPB functions. At one point, she told McKernan, &ldquo;It kind of feels like you&rsquo;ve been lined up to be the number one horse at the glue factory.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>She continued to press McKernan, who previously served as a commissioner on the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, about whether he would commit to following the law under the Dodd-Frank Act, which created the bureau.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The north star here is you&rsquo;ve gotta follow the law &hellip; I&rsquo;m going to make sure the CFPB performs each of its statutory functions,&rdquo; he responded.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Nominees from left: Dr. Stephen Miran, to be chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors; Jeffrey Kessler, to be undersecretary of commerce for industry and security; William Pulte, to be director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency; and Jonathan McKernan, to be director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, are sworn into their Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee confirmation hearing in Dirksen building, Thursday, Feb. 27, 2025. (Tom Williams\/CQ Roll Call via AP Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>McKernan sidestepped Warren&rsquo;s questions, including when she asked if he would continue to have employees &ldquo;locked out of the building and told to do nothing and if they hear another employee is doing something, to report them.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know the specifics of the mandate, but I&rsquo;m fairly certain there were exceptions there; indeed, to get my application processed so I could get here today, my application had to go through the CFPB,&rdquo; he said in response.<\/p>\n<p>McKernan didn&rsquo;t answer definitively when multiple Democrats on the panel asked him if he agreed with Trump that the CFPB should be eliminated.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;As I&rsquo;ve said, the CFPB is a product of statute. That is a question for our elected officials,&rdquo; he said in response to a question from Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA).&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I certainly think that consumer protection is a very good thing. It&rsquo;s a critical thing. A <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\">federal consumer protection role<\/a> is a very important thing. That&rsquo;s a lesson I learned from my experience in the 2008 financial crisis,&rdquo; he said.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Republicans have long criticized the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-purges-us-commission-of-fine-arts\/\" title=\"Biden Purges US Commission of Fine Arts\">independent federal agency<\/a> that gets its funding from the Federal Reserve Board, arguing it&rsquo;s too powerful, burdensome, and shielded from lawmakers&rsquo; oversight. Rohit Chopra, who had an aggressive four-year run as the agency&rsquo;s former director under the Biden administration, was criticized as a radical regulator who pushed to rein in improper practices by financial firms.<\/p>\n<p>GOP members of the panel commended McKernan&rsquo;s prior banking experience and highlighted the need for transparency at the agency.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;In recent years, we&rsquo;ve seen the CFPB extend its authority beyond its original scope, creating uncertainty for businesses and financial institutions,&rdquo; said Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD). &ldquo;With your knowledge, experience, and commitment to fair and effective regulation, you are well suited to lead the Bureau, and until we can ultimately reform the CFPB, I believe you will restore a balanced approach that protects consumers.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/house\/3327968\/byron-donalds-leads-effort-shut-down-rogue-cfpb\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">BYRON DONALDS LEADS EFFORTS TO SHUT DOWN &lsquo;ROGUE&rsquo; CFPB<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) asked McKernan if the CFPB should continue to regulate payment platforms, a veiled reference to Elon Musk&rsquo;s goal of making X a payment platform. Musk, who has been a leading force behind the Trump administration&rsquo;s cost-cutting efforts, could personally benefit from rolling back the agency&rsquo;s oversight capabilities.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Do you believe that one company with a payment platform should be allowed to access confidential information from the CFPB and its competitors,&rdquo; she asked.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Senator, I don&rsquo;t know the terms or the nature of any such issue,&rdquo; McKernan responded.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The answer should be no. That would be pretty easy to answer,&rdquo; Cortez Masto added.<\/p>\n<p>Senate Democrats on the panel <a href=\"https:\/\/www.banking.senate.gov\/newsroom\/minority\/ahead-of-cfpb-forum-banking-committee-releases-new-analysis-revealing-precipitous-drop-in-consumer-complaints-processed-after-trump-musk-attack-on-american-consumers\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">released a new report<\/a> that found thousands of complaints were submitted and unanswered to the agency following Trump&rsquo;s efforts to dismantle it.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;With the CFPB shuttered by President Trump and Elon Musk, what&rsquo;s your plan to ensure the bureau resolves those 40,000 pending complaints for my constituents,&rdquo; Warnock asked.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Senator, like I said, the consumer complaint function is a statutorily required function, that&rsquo;s in 1021c, so my mandate, if I&rsquo;m confirmed, is to fulfill faithfully that statutory mandate,&rdquo; McKernan responded.<\/p>\n<p>Under questioning from Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA), the nominee declined to say whether returning $20 billion to consumers is a good thing.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Will you at least acknowledge that you know the $20 billion returned to 195 million consumers was actually a good record for the CFPB,&rdquo; Warner asked repeatedly.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think we should evaluate the success of the CFPB based on dollar numbers or enforcement count. We should evaluate the game on whether it&rsquo;s fair,&rdquo; McKernan replied.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The CFPB dismissed at least four enforcement lawsuits undertaken by the Biden administration as the hearing took place. Sen. Tina Smith (D-MN) expressed her frustration that the agency dismissed a case involving Capital One, in which the agency accused the bank of cheating consumers out of more than $2 billion in interest payments on savings accounts.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I guess Elon Musk or Russell Vought, whoever is in charge, is saying they are going to drop these lawsuits. How do you respond to this? This makes me question who is really going to be in charge of the CFPB,&rdquo; Smith pontificated.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Senator, if I&rsquo;m confirmed, I&rsquo;m the director,&rdquo; McKernan responded.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Well, it&rsquo;s not clear to me because, at the moment that we&rsquo;re sitting here talking about you are taking on this responsibility, Russell Vought or others are dismissing lawsuits that you just told me you were going to have the opportunity to review before they were dismissed,&rdquo; Smith said.<\/p>\n<p>The hearing Thursday also featured Trump&rsquo;s selections to lead the Council of Economic Advisers, Stephen Miran, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, Bill Pulte, as well as Jeffrey Kessler, who was tapped to run the Commerce Department&rsquo;s Bureau of Industry and Security.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script>!function(){var g=window;g.googletag=g.googletag||{},g.googletag.cmd=g.googletag.cmd||[],g.googletag.cmd.push(function(){g.googletag.pubads().setTargeting(\"has-featured-video\",\"true\")})}();<\/script><script>var _bp=_bp||[];_bp.push({\"div\":\"Brid_2022939\",\"obj\":{\"id\":\"27789\",\"width\":\"1280\",\"height\":\"720\",\"stickyDirection\":\"below\",\"video\":\"2022939\"}});<\/script><script defer src=\"https:\/\/services.brid.tv\/player\/build\/brid.min.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Democrats question Trump&#8217;s nominee for consumer agency amid plans to dismantle it<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2657,"featured_media":2407555,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Jonathan-McKernan-nominee-to-be-director-of-the-Consumer-Financial-Protection-Bureau-scaled-1024x682.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[49898,51252,3685,3634,32076],"class_list":["post-2407554","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-agency-dismantling","tag-consumer-watchdog","tag-democrats","tag-trump","tag-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Jonathan-McKernan-nominee-to-be-director-of-the-Consumer-Financial-Protection-Bureau-scaled-1024x682.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2407554","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2657"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2407554"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2407554\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2407558,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2407554\/revisions\/2407558"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2407555"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2407554"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2407554"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2407554"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}