The US administration nominated Stuart Levenbach to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) for a five-year term, according to a notice sent to the Senate.
President Donald Trump and Russell Vought, director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), called for the elimination of the CFPB, the federal consumer finance watchdog. Vought also serves as acting director of the CFPB.
Levenbach was named associate director for natural resources, energy, science and water at OMB after Trump took office this year. His nomination to the CFPB was received in the Senate on Tuesday.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat considered the architect of the CFPB, said Levenbach’s nomination appeared to be “a strategy to keep Russ Vought as acting director indefinitely while he attempts to illegally shut down the agency.”
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In a statement, he added: “Instead of doing everything they can to reduce costs for Americans, Trump and Vought want to make it easier for big corporations to rip families off and steal their money.”
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau employees face growing uncertainty about the agency’s ability to continue paying them or offer them severance pay, as a legal battle unfolds over the government’s plans to lay off the vast majority of staff.
The CFPB receives its funding directly from the US Federal Reserve, unlike federal agencies to which Congress appropriates funds annually.
Levenbach previously held other positions at the Office of Management and Budget and was also chief of staff at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
With information from Reuters
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