Consumer watchdog nominee bobs, weaves

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s nominee to take over the nation’s consumer watchdog agency exasperated some Democrats with vague answers at a Senate hearing Thursday, but Kathy Kraninger appears to be on her way to getting confirmed this year.

Republicans hold a 51-seat Republican majority in the Senate, so Kraninger’s confirmation seems all but certain.

Trump nominated Kraninger on June 18 to replace Mick Mulvaney, who has been acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau since late November. Mulvaney also runs the Office of Management and Budget, where Kraninger currently works. She oversees roughly $250 billion in spending on federal government programs.

Democrats who’ve questioned Kraninger’s Kraninger qualifications to lead the CFPB since her nomination pressed her Thursday on her lack of experience in banking or financial services, as well as issues such as payday lending and enforcement actions against financial institutions. Under Mulvaney, the agency has taken a more businessfriendly approach than his predecessor, Ohio’s Richard Cordray, and Democrats assume Kraninger will do the same.

Kraninger appeared noncommittal on various issues raised by senators on both sides of the aisle. Republicans seemed nonplussed, but Democrats grew frustrated.

Kraninger did not appear to win the support of any Democrats on the committee with her testimony, nor did she appear to frustrate Republicans, so the final vote to move her nomination out of committee could fall along party lines. It would then go in front of the full Senate later this year.

The White House and Republicans argue that Kraninger’s experience at the OMB, arranging programs for large government departments like Homeland Security and the Federal Reserve, makes her qualified as a manager for a large government bureau.

Kraninger’s prepared remarks called for the CFPB to be “fair and transparent” and to “empower consumers to make good choices and provide certainty for market participants.”

But Kraninger did seem to differ with her current boss on some positions.

She appeared supportive of the bureau’s work when it comes to non-discrimination in financial products as well as the idea that the bureau has a role in protecting student loan borrowers.