Tell Senate: Kathy Kraninger is unfit to lead the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

Petition to the U.S. Senate: "Block and resist Kathy Kraninger's nomination to lead the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Kraninger lacks relevant experience, oversees the agencies responsible for the unconscionable separation of thousands of children from their parents and has no record of protecting consumers. She would continue Acting Director Mulvaney's crusade to help predatory financial companies by destroying the CFPB from within." Add your name: Kathy Kraninger has no record of protecting consumers, possesses no experience in financial regulation, and is "completely unqualified," in the words of one expert – yet Trump has picked her to lead the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.1 But don't worry: The American Banking Association and the representatives of payday lenders currently suing the CFPB have already announced they just love her nomination.2,3 Worse, in her current job at the Office of Management and Budget, Kraninger oversees the agencies responsible for the unconscionable separation of thousands of children from their parents, leading Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Sherrod Brown to demand she turn over all records of her involvement.4 Tell the U.S. Senate: Block and resist Trump's Wall Street-friendly consumer protection pick. Click here to sign the petition. Kraninger's nomination took everyone by surprise. Currently a White House budget official, Kraninger has no record of sticking up for consumers. In fact, she has no relevant experience at all in finance, regulation, banking, or even leading an important institution like the CFPB.5 Her lack of qualifications may be the exact reason Trump nominated her. Predatory financial interests clearly see something about Kraninger they like, and Trump has launched a crusade to destroy the consumer watchdog from within. In fact, Kraninger's current boss at the Office of Management and Budget, Mick Mulvaney, is also the acting director of the CFPB and has single-mindedly sought to sabotage the institution since taking over. Mulvaney has requested a budget of $0 for the entire agency, joined forces with payday lenders, fired every member of the watchdog's consumer advocate advisory panel, hid complaints about predatory companies from the public, asked Congress to rob the agency of its power and independence, and called the institution "a sick, sad joke." He also famously told a room full of bank lobbyists that, as a congressman, he only held meetings with lobbyists who donated to his campaigns.6,7 With Mulvaney's lackey Kraninger in charge of the CFPB, he would effectively remain acting director as long as she's around. Even if Kraninger leads independently of Mulvaney, there is nothing in her record to suggest that she would take the side of consumers or the victims of predatory lenders. We have to make it clear to every senator – especially wavering Republicans and corporate Democrats – that her nomination is utterly unacceptable. Tell the U.S. Senate: Block and resist Trump's consumer protection pick. Click below to sign the petition: https://act.credoaction.com/sign/kraninger_cfpb?t=7&akid=29096%2E3130208%2Euiu-VC - Josh Nelson, CREDO Action Add your name: References: David Lazarus, "Trump's pick for consumer agency chief has never stood up for consumers," Los Angeles Times, June 18, 2018. Ibid. Americans for Financial Reform, "Well, if @MickMulvaneyOMB pick for @CFPB wins the love of payday lenders…" Twitter, June 18, 2018. Jim Puzzanghera, "CFPB nominee Kathy Kraninger faces questions on her role in 'zero tolerance' immigration policy," Los Angeles Times, June 19, 2018. Lazarus, "Trump's pick for consumer agency chief has never stood up for consumers." Sylvan Lane, "Five ways Mulvaney is cracking down on his own agency," The Hill, June 10, 2018. Shannon Young, "Elizabeth Warren questions whether lobbyist contributions have influenced Mick Mulvaney's work at CFPB," MassLive, April 27, 2018.