CFPB nominee faces questions about agency funding, staffing and statutory obligations

Jonathan McKernan, President Trump’s nominee to lead the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, told the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee on Feb. 19 that he will “fully and faithfully execute the law” if confirmed even as senators raised alarm about actions they said had effectively shuttered parts of the agency.

The committee’s ranking member, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, said the committee had limited question time and pressed McKernan on whether he would maintain statutorily required CFPB functions. “There are at least 88 specific obligations in the Dodd‑Frank Act that the CFPB is legally obligated to perform,” Warren said, and cited sections 1021 and 1013, which she said require the bureau to implement federal consumer financial laws and operate a consumer‑complaint hotline and database. McKernan responded that those duties are mandatory and that, if confirmed, “they’ll follow the law.”

Warren and other senators repeatedly asked whether McKernan would keep the CFPB’s complaint hotline, the Office of Servicemember Affairs and the Office for Older Americans operational. “Those are mandatory,” McKernan said, and affirmed he would follow the statute. He declined, however, to provide definitive operational commitments on the spot, saying he would need to be advised on specifics and that his “north star” would be following the law.

Senators pressed McKernan about recent actions they ascribed to the White House and the Office of Management and Budget, including a reported stop‑work order, cancelled leases at the CFPB headquarters, and the placing of many employees on administrative leave. Sen. Warren said acting leadership had “told people not to do any work” and that the bureau’s personnel were locked out; McKernan said he was not certain of the precise facts and that there were likely exceptions but reiterated his commitment to perform the bureau’s statutory functions.

Committee members also raised high‑profile enforcement decisions and recent news that several CFPB lawsuits were being dismissed by the administration while McKernan’s nomination was pending. McKernan said he would review pending litigation and follow the statutory mandate if confirmed. Several senators said the timing of the dismissals appeared aimed at undermining the nominee. “While you’ve been sitting here, we get the news that the CFPB is dropping lawsuits,” Sen. Sherrod Brown said, adding that the timing “seems to me designed to embarrass you.”

On restitution and redress, McKernan avoided valuing specific dollar totals as a measure of success. When Sen. Mark Warner pressed whether returning roughly $21,000,000,000 to consumers was a positive outcome, McKernan said that restitution is important to make consumers whole but that he would not evaluate the bureau solely on dollar totals.

Republican senators pressed McKernan on restructuring, accountability and ‘‘rightsizing’’ the agency. McKernan said the bureau should be “refocused on its mission,” made more efficient and held accountable to elected officials; he added that rulemaking should be data‑driven and that cost‑benefit concerns matter.

Several members — including Sen. Tammy Duckworth and Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto — asked McKernan to commit to maintaining offices and services for veterans and seniors. McKernan affirmed that the statutory offices exist and said he would perform the statutory duties if confirmed.

The exchange underscored sharp partisan disagreement on the bureau’s role: Democrats framed recent management actions as an attempt to disable the agency, while Republicans described the CFPB as in need of accountability and reform. McKernan repeatedly said his obligation would be to follow statute and that structural or policy questions belong to Congress.

The committee gave senators until noon the next day to submit written questions for the record; nominees were asked to respond by the committee’s deadline.