President Donald Trump has nominated Stuart Levenbach to serve as Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), setting up a high-stakes confirmation fight as the administration continues reshaping, and potentially dismantling, the agency. The nomination, filed Nov. 18, was referred to the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee.
Levenbach, a former senior official at the Office of Management and Budget and the White House Domestic Policy Council, would replace Rohit Chopra for a five-year term. His selection comes as the CFPB faces litigation, workforce cuts, halted enforcement efforts and public comments from White House budget director, and CFPB's Acting Director Russell Vought indicating plans to “close down the agency” within months.
Industry groups welcomed the nomination. The Consumer Bankers Association said Levenbach’s confirmation comes “at a critical time” and urged a return to a CFPB that “fulfills its statutory mission and sticks to what Congress authorized it to do.”
“America’s leading Main Street banks look forward to continuing to work with the Trump Administration on data-driven, pro-growth policies,” the group said, adding that stabilizing the bureau would “restore trust and credibility” for consumers and the financial sector.
But Senate Banking Committee Ranking Member Sen. Elizabeth Warren blasted the move as an attempt to mask the administration’s broader goal of shutting the watchdog down.
“Donald Trump’s sending the Senate a new nominee… looks like nothing more than a front for Russ Vought to stay on as Acting Director indefinitely as he tries to illegally close down the agency,” Warren said. “Trump and Vought want to make it easier for giant corporations to scam families out of their money.”
The Senate Banking Committee has not yet scheduled a hearing on the nomination.
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