President Trump intends to nominate Kathy Kraninger to replace Mick Mulvaney as head of the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection, the White House announced late Saturday.
Mulvaney has been leading two agencies — that bureau and the Office of Management and Budget. The White House now calls the bureau the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection, instead of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Kraninger is now the associate director at OMB.
“She will bring a fresh perspective and much-needed management experience to the BCFP, which has been plagued by excessive spending, dysfunctional operations, and politicized agendas,” White House deputy press secretary Lindsay Walters said in a statement. “As a staunch supporter of free enterprise, she will continue the reforms of the bureau initiated by Acting Director Mick Mulvaney, and ensure that consumers and markets are not harmed by fraudulent actors. The White House hopes that she will be promptly confirmed by the Senate.”
The bureau was created during President Obama’s time in the White House, intended to help prevent future large-scale financial disasters from falling upon consumers. But Mr. Trump’s administration — and Republicans in Congress — have been highly critical of the agency.
During his tenure at the bureau, Mulvaney disbanded an expert panel focused on protecting American consumers from financial abuse. He also announced earlier this year that he had launched a review of all of the federal consumer agency’s policies and agenda.
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