President Donald Trump has nominated Brian Johnson to take over the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). The appointment was announced yesterday, June 10th.
Ohio based Johnson is currently a senior executive at Capital One and, if approved, will take the reins of the agency for a five year term. From 2019 to 2020, Johnson was Deputy Director of the CFPB and was principal policy director in 2017. At one point, Johnson was a staffer on the House Financial Services Committee.
The CFPB has been a controversial agency since its inception. Born of the great recession and Dodd Frank legislation, the bureaucracy has been criticized as a partisan entity that lacks Congressional oversight. During the Trump administration, much of its activities have been diminished. Johnson, according to reports, believes the current automatic funded via the US Federal Reserve, transgresses appropriations accountability.
In an Op-Ed in 2023, Johnson challenged the agency stating, “no federal agency better embodies the progressive vision of government-by-administrator than the CFPB.”
Adding:
“[The CFPB was] designed to be permanently unaccountable to the elected branches.”
The American Bankers Association welcomed Johnson’s selection stating “he will bring a thoughtful approach to setting the Bureau’s priorities in the years ahead if confirmed.”
“The Bureau upholds its consumer protection mission best when it operates within its statutory authority, promotes responsible innovation and pursues regulations that are appropriately tailored and applied evenly to all market participants. We look forward to the confirmation process and learning more about Brian’s plans for the CFPB moving forward.”
Penny Lee, President & CEO of Financial Technology Association, also supported his nomination, noting that Johnson “oversaw the agency’s rulemaking, supervision, and enforcement activities, and led the creation of the Office of Innovation, an initiative that opened new pathways for responsible product development in financial services.”
It is not immediately clear as to what Johnson foresees for the young agency that some insiders believe should be shuttered with certain responsibilities moved to one of the many other financial regulators.