CFPB headquarters. (Source: Shutterstock)
In a move likely to raise the hackles of House Financial Services Chairman Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), Washington, D.C., attorney Thomas Ward has been appointed as enforcement director at the CFPB.
Agency Director Kathy Kraninger late last week announced the appointment of Ward, who previously served as deputy chief attorney general for the Torts Branch at the Justice Department.
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Kraninger will testify at a Thursday hearing of Waters' committee.
At the CFPB, Ward will serve as Assistant Director of Enforcement in the Supervision, Enforcement and Fair Lending Division.
When rumors of Ward's impending appointment began to circulate in December, Waters sent Kraninger a letter pointing out that Ward was a political appointee at DOJ, while the CFPB position is not a political appointee.
"Federal law prohibits individuals to the excepted service based on political affiliation," Waters said in a letter to Kraninger. "The Committee's oversight duties include ensuring that personnel actions in the civil service remain free from improper political influence and comply with all relevant civil service laws, rules and regulations."
In a letter to Waters, Kraninger said that Ward is "eminently qualified" to be the enforcement director and "brings a wealth of experience as both a litigator of complex cases and a manager of other attorneys."
She told Waters the CFPB sent the Office of Personnel Management information about Ward's impending appointment and OPM said the choice was free of political influence.
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