WASHINGTON—The CFPB has frequently hindered its own mission to protect consumers, Jonathan McKernan stated during a Senate hearing on his nomination to lead the agency, the ABA Banking Journal reported.
The Senate Banking Committee Thursday held a hearing to review Donald Trump’s nomination of McKernan. During his testimony, McKernan criticized the CFPB for frequently acting in a politicized manner, the ABA Banking Journal said.
“It has pushed beyond the limits of its statutory authority,” he said. “It has seized opportunities to expand its jurisdiction and power. It has offended our basic notions of fairness and due process when it has regulated by enforcement. And it has harmed consumers through higher prices and reduced choice when it has failed to strike an appropriate balance between costs and benefits in prescribing new regulations,” McKernan stated.
The ABA Banking Journal added that McKernan said that if confirmed as CFPB director, the Bureau will enforce federal consumer financial laws and perform its other statutorily assigned functions. “But the CFPB will do this by centering its regulation on real risks to consumers and by focusing its enforcement on bad actors,” he said.
Others testifying before the committee Thursday were Jeffrey Kessler (for undersecretary of commerce for Industry and Security), William Pulte (for director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency), and Stephen Miran (for chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors).