As a faithful disciple of Mick Mulvaney, the architect behind this Administration’s plan to destroy the CFPB from the inside out, Kraninger will continue crippling its power to protect American consumers
The next director of the CFPB will be called upon to make a choice…to stand aside and allow powerful special interests to call the shots in our country’s financial system…or to fight for families who want a fair and affordable loan to buy a car, home or college education for their children
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) spoke on the Senate floor in opposition to Kathy Kraninger’s nomination to lead the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). Below are her remarks as prepared for delivery:
I rise today to speak out in opposition to the nomination of Kathy Kraninger to serve as the Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
The CFPB is a consumer’s watchdog on Wall Street and the Big Banks.
It was created in the aftermath of the financial crisis to protect Americans from predatory and abusive practices, and ensure that financial institutions play by the rules.
Since 2010, the CFPB has investigated and held accountable abusive student loan companies, predatory payday lenders, and fraudulent multi-national corporations, just to name a few. It has protected our nation’s veterans and active duty servicemembers from targeted scams and illegal debt collection practices.
The CFPB has secured over $12 billion dollars in relief for Americans.
Just this past April, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau sued Wells Fargo for creating millions of fake accounts, destroying credit scores, and forcing millions of customers to pay phony penalties and fees.
The people at the CFPB work every single day to make the financial system safe and fair for hard-working families.
We can’t go back to the way things were before the CFPB was created.
We can’t go back to a time when there were no strong consumer advocates at the federal level.
I remember that time all too well. I was Nevada’s attorney general when the markets crashed in 2008.
The subprime mortgage crisis hit Nevada harder than any state in the country.
We had the highest foreclosure rate in the nation for 62 months straight.
I worked to hold the big banks accountable for the damage they did to our state and to help people stay in their homes.
Meanwhile, the federal regulators were asleep at the wheel. They were letting the big banks write their own rules and defraud consumers until the markets came crashing down.
The CFPB was designed to close the leadership gap at the federal level…to stand up to predators like Wells Fargo and protect the rights of American families.
To ensure the CFPB continues its mission of looking out for consumers’ best interests, we need strong leadership at the agency.
We need someone with the right experience, the right qualifications, and the right mindset.
We need someone willing to stand up not only to bad actors in the financial industry but also to President Trump.
The Trump Administration has already stripped critical enforcement powers away from the CFPB, repealed rules that govern predatory payday lenders, and shut down an office that focuses on protecting students from abusive student loans.
We can’t afford to go any further down this path.
President Trump’s nominee for CFPB Director, Kathy Kraninger, is unqualified to lead the agency.
In her testimony before the Senate Banking committee, she failed to demonstrate an understanding of the CFPB’s core functions, or a willingness to uphold its central mission.
Like many of President Trump’s nominees, Kraninger seems handpicked to undermine the agency’s mission.
As a faithful disciple of Mick Mulvaney, the architect behind this Administration’s plan to destroy the CFPB from the inside out, Kraninger will continue crippling its power to protect American consumers.
The next director of the CFPB will be called upon to make a choice…to stand aside and allow powerful special interests to call the shots in our country’s financial system…or to fight for families who want a fair and affordable loan to buy a car, home or college education for their children; a bank account and credit card without costly fees; or who are simply trying to make ends meet.
Kathy Kraninger can’t be relied upon to make the right choice, and she does not have my vote.
I encourage all of my colleagues to vote against her nomination as well.
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