Senate Democrats are finalizing the confirmation of Rohit Chopra to lead the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, nine months after President Biden nominated him for the post.
Chopra now faces a final confirmation vote as early as next week. He would clear that last hurdle as long as all Senate Democrats continue to support his nomination, since Vice President Harris could break a tie in the evenly divided chamber.
Chopra, who has served since 2018 as a Democratic commissioner on the Federal Trade Commission, outlined an aggressive agenda for the bureau in his confirmation testimony in March. He said he would focus on getting relief to Americans struggling under pandemic-related financial setbacks, in part by policing credit bureaus and mortgage and student lenders.
“While there are some hopeful signs that the tide is turning, we must not forget that the financial lives of millions of Americans are in ruin,” he said at the time.
Chopra, 39, stands to serve a five-year term at the helm of the federal consumer watchdog. He has a long history with the CFPB, which was created in the aftermath of the 2008-2009 financial crisis. He worked with Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) on establishing the bureau, then joined it in 2011 to investigate industry abuses in the student lending market. There, he called out private student lenders for what he called their mistreatment of borrowers and helped lay the foundation for President Barack Obama’s Student Aid Bill of Rights.
The CFPB this year already has returned to flexing its watchdog powers, after years of industry-friendly leadership under appointees of President Donald Trump. Most recently, the agency released a sweeping proposal that would force a wide array of banks and other lenders to report data identifying potential discrimination in small-business lending. Banking interests are lining up to oppose the rule, which they call overly broad and burdensome.
