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Sen. Cramer, Banking Republicans Slam CFPB Nominee’s Failure to Respond to Questions Ahead of Confirmation Vote

Source: United States Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND)

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND) joined his fellow Senate Banking Committee Republicans in sending a letter today to President Biden’s nominee to lead the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), Rohit Chopra, slamming him for his failure to respond to a congressional request seeking information about an alleged purge of civil servants at the CFPB.

“Your refusal to answer basic questions about whether you were privy to the troubling and possibly unlawful actions described in the press is unacceptable from a federal nominee and in our view should disqualify you from consideration as CFPB Director,” the members wrote.

On June 17, Ranking Member Pat Toomey (R-PA) called on the CFPB to turn over documents in the wake of reports that the Biden Administration is removing senior career officials in order to replace them with loyalists, raising the question of whether the agency potentially violated civil service protections. It was also requested that Mr. Chopra provide information on whether he was aware of—or involved in—any such actions that may have occurred. 

The deadline for Mr. Chopra to respond was Monday, June 21, but the committee still has not received a response.

“Any individual nominated to lead a federal agency should be expected to provide truthful and clear answers to fair and basic questions from Congress,” the members continued. “Any nominee who refuses to do so during their nomination has not earned the right to be confirmed. Indeed, if you are refusing even to respond to congressional inquiries while your nomination is pending before the Senate, there is little doubt about how you will treat such inquiries if confirmed.”

Click here to read the full letter.
Earlier this year, Senator Cramer and his colleagues introduced a bill to abolish the CFPB, calling it “the embodiment of a federal bureaucracy run rampant” and an “Obama-era mistake.” Learn more here.