Outrage After White House Vows New CFPB Nominee Will Continue Mulvaney's Efforts to Gut Agency

After the White House announced Saturday that President Donald Trump will nominate Kathy Kraninger to take over the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), critics blasted her as “unqualified” and warned that if confirmed, she will continue Acting Director Mick Mulvaney’s efforts to defang the agency.

Bolstering those concerns—and defaulting to Mulvaney’s preferred acronym for the agency—White House Deputy Press Secretary Lindsay Walters said that Kraninger “will bring a fresh perspective and much-needed management experience to the BCFP, which has been plagued by excessive spending, dysfunctional operations, and politicized agendas. As a staunch supporter of free enterprise, she will continue the reforms of the bureau initiated by Acting Director Mick Mulvaney.”

Kraninger is currently associate director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB)—serving under Mulvaney, who is also the director of that agency. He has headed the CFPB since November, when his appointment by Trump was denounced as “an illegal affront to the American public” and “a gift to Wall Street grifters.” In his short tenure at the CFPB, Mulvaney has made several moves aimed at rolling back rules meant to protect consumers from the financial industry’s abuses.

Some argue that Kraninger’s nomination is simply a strategic decision by the Trump administration to keep Mulvaney in charge of the agency longer.