Senate Democrats send CFPB nominee list of follow-up questions

The Senate Banking Committee's ranking member and three other Democrats sent a long list of follow-up questions to Kathy Kraninger, President Trump’s nominee to lead the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, after her July 19 nomination hearing.

Kraninger, a senior official at the Office of Management and Budget, largely avoided answering direct questions at the hearing, including what role she played, if any, in the Trump administration's family-separation policy at the southern U.S. border.

In all, the Democrats sent three lists of questions, totaling 43 queries, over 10 pages. Issues ranged from financial regulations to immigration.

CFPB nominee Kathy Kraninger
Kathy Kraninger, director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) nominee for U.S. President Donald Trump, speaks during a Senate Banking Committee confirmation hearing in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Thursday, July 19, 2018. Kraninger, a little-known official who has worked for the White House's Office of Management and Budget (OMB) since March 2017, is poised to succeed her boss Mick Mulvaney as director of the CFPB. Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg
Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg

The lawmakers asked whether Kraninger, if confirmed, planned to revisit the CFPB's payday lending rule, would commit to keeping its consumer complaint database public, and planned to continue supervising federal student loan servicers and debt collectors.

The questions — sent by Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio, the panel's top Democrat, and Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Bob Menendez of New Jersey and Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada —included a four-page list of questions specifically about Kraninger's role implementing the "zero tolerance" immigration policy and the government's response to hurricane damage in Puerto Rico.

Warren and Brown sent a separate list of questions about Kraninger's views on the CFPB's budget, funding, structure and hiring of political staff, among other issues.

Finally, Warren sent a separate three-page list of detailed questions about the CFPB's authority to supervise loan servicers and debt collectors.

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Enforcement Payday lending Student loans Kathy Kraninger Sherrod Brown Elizabeth Warren CFPB Women in Banking
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