Brian Johnson, President Trump’s nominee to serve as the next Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, told the Senate Banking Committee yesterday that he would keep an “open mind” about the agency’s staffing levels and make his own decisions if confirmed, while repeatedly declining to distance himself from Acting Director Russell Vought’s efforts to dismantle the Bureau.
Why it matters: Johnson, a former CFPB deputy director during the first Trump administration and currently an executive at Capital One, would inherit an agency whose supervision and enforcement activity has been largely frozen for 18 months. His answers offered the clearest signals yet about how the Bureau will operate under permanent leadership, including its posture toward the accounts receivable management industry.
The big picture: Johnson laid out three priorities: protecting consumers, especially from fraud and scams; promoting accountability by keeping the Bureau within its statutory bounds; and modernizing the agency’s operations. He said that “where the CFPB tries to remake markets according to an ideological agenda, it deprives consumers of choice, restricts their access to financial products and services, and drives up costs for providers.”
On the administration’s plan to cut the Bureau’s remaining workforce by roughly two-thirds, including shrinking the examination staff from about 350 to 77, Johnson noted that litigation over the reduction in force has been paused pending his confirmation. “I would pledge to you to have an open mind to take a look at staffing levels with the agency,” he said.
Pressed by Sen. Chris Van Hollen [D-Md.] on whether he wants to eliminate the CFPB, as both the President and Vought have advocated, Johnson said, “That’s not my intention. The CFPB is a creature of statute.” He said he favors legislative restructuring over elimination. But when Sen. Ruben Gallego [D-Ariz.] asked him to name a single Vought decision he disagreed with, Johnson replied, “None come to mind at the moment,” adding, “I’m not Russell Vought. If confirmed, I would make my own decisions.”
The sharpest exchange came from Ranking Member Sen. Elizabeth Warren [D-Mass.], who asked Johnson to commit to notifying Congress and the inspector general if the White House contacted him about an enforcement action involving a Trump family company or major donor. Johnson called the question a hypothetical and declined. Warren cited the Bureau’s dropped $2 billion lawsuit against Capital One, Johnson’s current employer. Johnson has agreed to recuse himself from Capital One matters for two years if confirmed.
Vought’s term as Acting Director expires in early August. Johnson is the third person nominated to lead the agency since President Trump returned to office.
