The Senate Banking Committee approved Thursday Jonathan McKernan’s nomination to be director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau along party lines, 13-11.
The vote came a week after McKernan’s confirmation hearing, where Democrats expressed concern that he would not be able to steer the regulator independently of billionaire special presidential adviser Elon Musk, who has called to eliminate it.
McKernan was one of four nominees the panel advanced. The others were William Pulte, who has been tapped to be director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency; Jeffrey Kessler, nominated for undersecretary of Commerce for industry and security; and Stephen Miran, nominated for chair of the Council of Economic Advisers.
Miran and Kessler also received party-line votes, 13-11. Pulte gained the support of two Democrats, Sens. Ruben Gallego of Arizona and Angela Alsobrooks of Maryland, in a 15-9 vote.
Senate Banking ranking member Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., said she voted against all four in part because each “failed to provide meaningful responses” to questions she sent them after their hearing last week.
“I also have deep, substantive reservations about these nominees,” Warren said. “Jonathan McKernan … is clearly being sent in by co-presidents Trump and Elon Musk to unleash the scammers, the fraudsters and cheats on the American people.”
Democrats defend the CFPB, citing the approximately $21 billion it has returned to harmed investors since its inception in 2010.
Senate Banking Chair Tim Scott, R-S.C., and other Republicans, accuse the agency of regulatory overreach in pursuit of a progressive political agenda.
“As the Director of the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection, Jonathan McKernan will ensure accountability and much needed reforms to curtail the weaponization of this rogue agency,” Scott said in a statement released after the markup.
Warren also raised concerns about how Pulte would approach taking the giant government-sponsored mortgage lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac out of conservatorship.
“Mr. Bill Pulte … failed to assure us that he would prevent the president’s billionaire friends from privatizing Fannie and Freddie in a way that makes money for them but raises mortgage costs for families,” Warren said. “He also failed to provide any of the 25,000 posts he deleted from X [the social media platform owned by Musk] after the election.”
Scott said Pulte will be an ally in bringing down housing costs.
“At a time when housing has become unaffordable, Bill Pulte’s leadership of the Federal Housing Finance Agency will be crucial in protecting our housing finance system,” Scott said.
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