WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. administration has nominated Stuart Levenbach to be director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau for a five-year term, according to a notice provided to the Senate.
President Donald Trump and Russell Vought, director of the Office of Management and Budget, have called for the elimination of the CFPB, the federal consumer finance watchdog. Vought is also acting director of the CFPB.
Levenbach was appointed associate director for natural resources, energy, science and water at the OMB after Trump took office this year. His CFPB nomination was received in the Senate on Tuesday.
Senator Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat who is considered the architect of the CFPB, said Levenbach’s nomination looked like “a front for Russ Vought to stay on as acting director indefinitely as he tries to illegally close down the agency”.
In a statement she added: “Instead of doing everything in their power to lower costs for Americans, Trump and Vought want to make it easier for giant corporations to scam families out of their money.”
The CFPB’s workforce faces mounting uncertainty over the bureau’s ability to continue to pay them or offer severance while a legal battle plays out over the administration’s plans to fire the vast majority of staff.
The CFPB receives its funding directly from the U.S. Federal Reserve, unlike federal agencies for which Congress appropriates money annually.
Levenbach previously served in other positions at OMB and was also chief of staff for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
(Reporting by Douglas Gillison and Doina Chiacu; Editing by Katharine Jackson and David Ljunggren)
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