Washington, D.C. — Today, the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs voted to advance the nomination of Kathy Kraninger to serve as director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). Andy Green, managing director of Economic Policy at the Center for American Progress, released the following statement:
The CFPB is a stalwart defender of consumers in the financial marketplace—a role severely lacking in the run up to the 2007–2008 financial crisis. It is highly unlikely that Kathy Kraninger, President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the agency, will continue this legacy of success. She has absolutely no background in financial services policy, has no experience fighting for consumers, and endorsed each of Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Mick Mulvaney’s dangerous anti- consumer policies.
Tom Jawetz, vice president of immigration policy at CAP, added:
Even more troubling than Kraninger’s complete lack of relevant experience is her direct role in implementing and overseeing one of the Trump administration’s most reprehensible policies: separating thousands of children from their families at the southwest border. Even as Republicans on the committee voted in lockstep to promote Kraninger to this position, hundreds of children remain separated from their parents—some, perhaps, permanently. One must question whether Kraninger was merely incompetent in carrying out her duties at the OMB—or something worse. A vote to promote Kathy Kraninger to lead the CFPB is a vote to approve or excuse policies that will forever stain the Trump administration.
Yesterday, CAP and 56 leading local, state, and national groups sent a letter to the Senate banking committee urging the members to reject Kraninger’s nomination. “The Administration officials responsible for implementing the tragedy unfolding deserve to be punished, not promoted,” reads the letter addressed to Chairman Mike Crapo (R-ID), Ranking Member Sherrod Brown (D-OH), and other members of the committee. “To date, not a single person in the federal government has been held accountable for this policy, including Ms. Kraninger who had a role in the implementation of this policy,” the letter continued.
For more information or to speak with an expert, contact Allison Preiss at [email protected] or 202-478-6331.