Trump to nominate OMB official to lead consumer watchdog

WASHINGTON » President Donald Trump intends to nominate an associate director at the Office of Management and Budget to lead the government’s consumer watchdog agency, the White House announced Saturday.

Spokeswoman Lindsay Walters says Kathy Kraninger “will bring a fresh perspective and much-needed management experience” to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which the administration has been trying to rebrand as the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection.

Trump’s budget chief, Mick Mulvaney, has been filling in as the bureau’s acting director along with running the OMB since late November when his predecessor, Richard Cordray, resigned.

Since then, Mulvaney has steered the bureau in a more industry-friendly direction.

In her statement, Walters said the agency had been “plagued by excessive spending, dysfunctional operations, and politicized agendas” in the past and that Kraninger would continue to implement the policies Mulvaney put in place.

The Senate must confirm her nomination.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was established after the 2008 financial crisis to ensure customers were not being exploited and that banks were complying with consumer protection laws.

Cordray, appointed by President Barack Obama, was criticized by congressional Republicans as being overzealous but was lauded by consumer advocates for aggressively going after banks for wrongdoing.