Senate Republicans are calling for Rohit Chopra to be disqualified from consideration as the next Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau after he refused to provide answers to questions that he was sent following the publication of a report detailing how the Biden administration is attempting to “sideline” top officials at the regulator.
The Republicans — members of the Senate Banking Committee — pulled no punches in their follow-up letter to Chopra, which was sent yesterday. The members of the Committee had previously sent Chopra a letter on June 17, asking for answers to “straightforward” questions by June 21, but not only has Chopra not responded, he has “also ignored every inquiry into whether” he intends to respond.
“Your refusal to answer basic questions about whether you were privy to the troubling and possibly unlawful actions described in the press is unacceptable from a federal nominee and in our view should disqualify you from consideration as CFPB Director,” the Republicans wrote in their letter. “As you know, the questions in the letter of June 17th focused on whether you were or were not aware of the allegations described in the press reports. These were primarily ‘yes’ or ‘no’ questions. In this context, your refusal to simply deny such knowledge creates the appearance that you are attempting to conceal what you knew about this matter.”
Failing to answer “fair and basic questions” from Congress “has not earned the right to be confirmed,” they wrote. Wondering how he will work with Congress should he be confirmed, the Senators said they viewed answers to the questions they posed as a “necessary prerequisite” to earning confirmation.
The Bureau was accused of offering some employees incentives
