Nominations were sent to the Senate Wednesday for two individuals recently named by President Donald Trump for positions at the federal consumer financial protection agency and the federal regulator of credit unions.
The White House transmitted to the Senate the nominations of Kathleen “Kathy” Kraninger, for director of the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (BCFP, formerly known as the CFPB); and Rodney Hood, to be a member of the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) Board. The transmission makes the nominations “official” for both seats.
Kraninger is nominated (for a five-year term) to replace, as permanent director, Richard Cordray – the first director of the bureau who resigned in November last year. Trump appointed the director of the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to be acting director under the Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998 (FVRA) following Cordray’s exit. Under provisions of that statute, Mulvaney’s tenure in the position would last 210 days from the date of his appointment. Friday, June 22, is the last day of that period.
However, the law also allows the acting director to remain in his post for another 210 days if a nomination is made for someone to take the position permanently, such as Kraninger. She is now a staff member at the OMB, which Mulvaney heads up (while continuing to hold his “acting” role at the BCFP).
In the meantime, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) said Tuesday that she is putting a hold on Kraninger’s nomination until the nominee turns over documents related to her role in the administration’s “zero tolerance” policy that has been separating undocumented children from their parents attempting to immigrate to the U.S.
A hold on Kraninger’s nomination, in practical terms, could mean the Senate would not act on confirming her for the position – and keep Mulvaney in the acting director’s role, perhaps through year’s end.
Also sent to the Senate: the nomination of Hood, a Republican, to be one of the three members of the NCUA Board. If confirmed, Hood would serve a term that runs to Aug. 2, 2023. He would replace current Board Member (and former Chairman) Rick Metsger. The term of Metsger, a Democrat, expired last August; he has been serving as a holdover.
One other seat remains open on the NCUA Board, which was occupied by former Chairman Debbie Matz (a Democrat), who resigned in 2016. The term for that open seat ends in 2021.
The final seat on the board is occupied by Chairman J. Mark McWatters, a Republican member of the board who was tapped by Trump last year to be chairman; his term runs to 2019.