The Senate Banking Committee will hold its confirmation hearing for Kathy Kraninger, who has been nominated to be the next director of the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection, on July 19, according to a published report.
If confirmed by the Senate Banking Committee, Kraninger’s nomination would proceed to the entire Senate for approval. If confirmed by the full Senate, Kraninger would become the director of the BCFP for a five-year term.
Kraninger, who is currently an associate director at the White House Office of Management & Budget would replace Mick Mulvaney, who has been acting director of the agency since former director Richard Cordray resigned last November. Along with being acting director of the BCFP, Mulvaney is also the director of the OMB, and has been running both agencies for the past seven months.
Kraninger has been lauded by Senate Republicans, including Sen. Mitch McConnell [R-Ky.], the Senate Majority Leader, while Democrats have questioned her lack of experience in either consumer protection or financial services. Kraninger has worked at the Department of Transportation, Office of Homeland Security, and in the Senate before joining OMB.
There has been talk that the plan is to stretch out Kraninger’s nomination until after the mid-term elections in November, which would allow President Trump to re-name Mulvaney the BCFP’s acting director for another 210 days before needing to re-nominate a new director. Sen. McConnell has already announced he is canceling the normal August recess for the Senate this year to deal with a legislative backlog.
Mulvaney, who has indicated he could remain at the agency at least through the end of this year, if not longer, has emerged as a possible candidate to be President Trump’s next chief of staff.
