As expected, Kathy Kraninger’s nomination to be the next director of the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection passed a key procedural hurdle yesterday, clearing the way for a full vote on her confirmation as early as next week.
The Senate voted 50-49 along party lines to invoke a cloture motion on Kraninger’s nomination, which limits the amount of debate on her nomination to no more than 30 hours.
If confirmed, as she is expected to be, Kraninger would replace Mick Mulvaney, who has been the acting director of the agency for the past year following the resignation of Richard Cordray, who left to make a failed run for governor of Ohio. Kraninger is expected to maintain many of the policies put into place by Mulvaney, which have shifted the BCFP from an era of regulation by enforcement to an emphasis on consumer education. Critics of the agency’s new direction say Mulvaney has defanged an important watchdog of the financial services industry while those who support his decisions have lauded a less aggressive approach to its regulatory mandate. Kraninger said during her confirmation hearing that she saw no decision made by Mulvaney that she would disagree with.
“If Ms. Kraninger is confirmed to a five-year term, she would continue Mr. Mulvaney’s efforts to undermine the agency’s consumer protection mission and return to the pre-crisis approach towards consumer protection that cost millions of working families their homes, jobs, and savings,” wrote Sen. Elizabeth Warren [D-Mass.], in a letter to her colleagues in the Senate urging them not to confirm Kraninger.
The passage of the cloture motion continued a noticeable pattern for Kraninger. So far, each time Kraninger’s name has come up before a vote, whether before the Senate Banking Committee or the whole chamber, the vote has passed by one vote.
