Nominee to head federal consumer finance agency is inexperienced and favors corporations, consumer groups say

On a party-line vote, the U.S. Senate Banking Committee Thursday approved the nomination of Kathleen Kraninger to be director of the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Kraninger currently works at the U.S. Office of Management and Budget.

Public Citizen, a consumer advocacy group, lauds the committee’s Democrats for their rejection of Kathleen Kraninger, who has no experience defending consumers and no literacy in financial or consumer law, said Bartlett Naylor, financial policy advocate for Public Citizen’s Congress Watch Division.

“As the nation marks the 10 year anniversary of the 2008 financial crash that cost millions of Americans their homes, jobs and savings, America deserves a consumer champion,” said Naylor. “Instead, Kraninger threatens continued deconstruction of the CFPB, begun by the agency’s interim director Mick Mulvaney, her current boss at OMB.”

Republicans who approved Kraninger debase the concept of public service leadership, he said.

“These senators are not simply declaring that consumers must take a back seat to profiteering, predatory financial scammers; they’re ejecting consumers onto the highway,” he said.

Mike Litt, consumer campaign director for U.S. PIRG, also criticized the committee’s decision.

"The Director of the Consumer Bureau is tasked with making consequential decisions that could mean the difference between families achieving the American dream or falling into financial ruin,” Litt said.

The full Senate should confirm a nominee with expertise in consumer protection and experience in enforcing consumer banking laws, he said. Any nominee should support the bureau’s mission: protecting consumers.

“Kathy Kraninger showed during her confirmation hearing that she fails to meet these minimum standards,” Litt said.