WASHINGTON–Kathy Kraninger, director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, was pressed to make changes in the CFPB’s operations by House Democrats during a hearing here yesterday, but the CFPB director was largely noncommital.
Testifying before the House Financial Services Committee for the first time as director of the agency as part of a hearing titled, “Putting Consumers First? A Semi-Annual Review of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau,” Kraninger was pressed from the outset by Committee Chair Maxine Waters (D-CA) regarding the CFPB’s commitment to fair lending.
“This committee will not tolerate President Trump’s anti-consumer actions,” Waters said in her opening statement. Democrats on the panel pursued the same theme with their own questions later in the hearing.
But Kraninger avoided any direct answer to whether or not the agency has opened any new investigations, or if she has any plans to restore fair lending-related priorities that were eliminated under her predecessor, acting director Mick Mulvaney.
During the hearing Waters also announced the reintroduction of H.R. 1500, the Consumers First Act, which seeks to block “the Trump administration’s anti-consumer agenda and reverse their past efforts to undermine the mission” of the CFPB.
Republicans Defend Agency
Republican members of the House committee, however, defended Kraninger and actions taken by the CFPB, primarily asking questions related to their view the CFPB has too much power and that Congress needs to change its structure.
Both credit union trade associations are supportive of a change to a five-person panel to lead the CFPB rather than a single director.
Members of the House panel also had questions related to the CFPB’s consumer complaint database, which the credit union trade groups have urged be kept private. The complaints are currently public, but the CFPB has acknowledged discussions about removing the database from public view.
Rep. Al Green (D-TX) said during the hearing the public had a right to know what complaints have been made, and called on Kraninger to commit to working to keep the database public. Kraninger, however, declined to make such a commitment.