WASHINGTON–With Republicans clamoring to replace Richard Cordray as director of the CFPB, it raises new questions over who might replace him.
According to a report by CNBC, Brian Brooks, who is currently general counsel at Fannie Mae, has close ties to Treasury secretary nominee Steven Mnuchin and is a prime candidate. Brooks represented several of the investors in Mnuchin's purchase of failed subprime mortgage lender IndyMac for $1.6 billion in 2009. The bank was renamed OneWest, and Brooks joined the company as vice chairman, CNBC reported. He then left the bank in 2014 to join Fannie Mae, shortly before OneWest was acquired by CIT Group.
OneWest has come under fire for aggressive foreclosure practices while Brooks was with the bank.
Other names that have been floated is that of former Rep. Randy Neugebauer, who was a vocal critic of the CFPB, and Todd Zywicki, an economist at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, CNBC said.
Before any of those individuals could move to the CFPB, however, Cordray would need to be removed, and his term runs through 2018. Cordray has said he will not step down. To remove him early, the president would need to show Cordray was guilty of inefficiency, neglect of duty or malfeasance. Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-TX) has proposed legislation that would allow the president to dismiss the CFPB director for any reason. Other legislation has called for replacing the single CFPB director with a five-member board.