Kathy Kraninger

Kathy Kraninger was Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) from December 2018-January 2021, despite not having a background in consumer issues. Before that, she served in the White House Office of Management and Budget under Russ Vought. Under her leadership, the CFPB was left “toothless” and enforcement activity dropped precipitously. Per Americans for Financial Reform, Kraninger’s moves at CFPB, such as undoing payday and car-title lending protections, were a “slap in the face to consumers—especially people of color—who have been victims of predatory business practices and abusive lenders.” Senator Elizabeth Warren called on her to “resign for helping mortgage servicers and credit reporting companies cheat consumers during the pandemic.”

CFPB’s first Director under Trump (before Kraninger) was acting Director Mick Mulvaney, a former congressman who had dubbed the CFPB a “joke…in a sick, sad kind of way.” Under Mulvaney, the CFPB delayed payday lending regulations, ended a CFPB investigation into a payday lending firm that contributed to Mulvaney’s congressional campaign, and dropped a lawsuit against an online loan-shark who was facing allegations of charging customers up to 950% interest rates. Per Vox, Mulvaney also “disbanded all of its advisory boards and councils and went as far as to try to change its acronym to the BCFP — the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection — a maneuver that by one estimate could cost companies $300 million.” Mulvaney went on to serve as Trump’s acting Chief of Staff.

Kraninger picked up right where Mulvaney left off. Under her leadership, CFPB worked to create a loophole that, per Mother Jones, would “let payday lenders operate even in jurisdictions where local governments have banned their product.” In 2019, her CFPB fined a man just $1 for illegally exchanging veterans’ pensions for high-interest cash advances. Also in 2019, the CFPB released its plan to roll back the central protections of the agency’s 2017 payday and car-title lending rule. And, in July 2020, CFPB announced that payday lenders would not have to verify a borrower’s ability to repay a loan before lending that borrower money.

Mulvaney and Kraninger’s destructive actions at CFPB are in line with Project 2025, which calls to abolish the purportedly “unconstitutional” bureau and the MAGA-majority Supreme Court, which struck down the removal protections for CFPB’s director.

Prior to the CFPB, Kathy was program associate director at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) overseeing DHS and DOJ. In this role, she played a key role in the family separation policies at the Southern Border. During her nomination, a coalition of 100 groups stated: “A vote to confirm Ms. Kraninger to head the CFPB is a vote to approve or excuse the conduct of one of the central figures in the family separation debacle thus minimizing the extent of this harmful and cruel policy. The Senate should reject her nomination.”

Following the Trump Administration, she took the role as top regulatory official for a cryptocurrency startup.