Another weekend, another flurry of news and developments surrounding the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The CFPB was featured on “60 Minutes” last night, its potential new leader now has a date with the Senate Banking Committee, and it dropped its first Chopra-era lawsuit/enforcement action, among other developments. Keep reading to learn more.
Senate Banking Committee to Hold McKernan Confirmation Hearing This Week
Jonathan McKernan will appear before the Senate Banking Committee on Thursday for his confirmation hearing to be the next director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. McKernan’s nomination is one of four that the committee will be considering. Not sure it means anything, but the hearing announcement listed McKernan’s nomination fourth on its non-alphabetized list of nominees it is going to question. The hearing can be streamed by clicking here.
McKernan was nominated by President Trump earlier this month to be the next director of the CFPB. McKernan was most recently a board member of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.
’60 Minutes’ Delves into Chaos at CFPB
Newsmagazine “60 Minutes” dove into the chaos at the CFPB last night with a 13-minute segment about what has happened at the Bureau following the firing of Rohit Chopra three weeks ago and what it means for consumers and others. Chopra, along with Eric Halperin and Lorelei Salas, the former directors of the CFPB’s enforcement and supervisory operations, were interviewed, along with a CFPB attorney who was fired earlier this month. They had much to say about the potential impact of getting rid of the Bureau and who stands to gain most.
The alarm bell they did ring that might make some in the credit and collection industry stand up and pay attention is just what the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is doing with all the data and information it has access to. If you have ever submitted information to the CFPB, such as algorithms, information about your operation, customer data, and trade secrets, that information may no longer be private.
CFPB Drops Lawsuit Against Online Lender
The CFPB and the company it was suing both filed a motion on Friday to dismiss the lawsuit the CFPB had filed against SoLo Funds, an online lender that was sued last year for allegedly deceiving customers about the costs of obtaining loans from the company. The CFPB had lost a motion to stay proceedings in the case earlier this month. This is thought to be the first case that the Bureau has dismissed since President Trump took office last month.
House Committee Schedules CFPB Hearing
The House Financial Services Committee announced its hearing schedule for March on Friday and it is planning a hearing, “A New Era for the CFPB: Balancing Power and Reprioritizing Consumer Protection” on Wednesday, March 26. A witness list for the hearing has not yet been made available.
OCC Denies Plan to Take on CFPB Employees
The Trump administration’s push to restructure financial regulatory agencies has raised concerns among workers about potential employee consolidations, particularly between the CFPB and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, a regulator that focuses on national banks. Despite the discovery of email lists suggesting potential employee transfers, the OCC has denied plans
