Jonathan McKernan, who has been tapped by President Donald Trump to become the next director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, promised lawmakers Thursday he would not preside over shutting down the agency.
Democrats on the Senate Banking Committee pressed McKernan in his confirmation hearing about how he would lead the regulator given that Trump and his billionaire special adviser Elon Musk have called for eliminating it.
McKernan was one of four nominees who appeared before the panel. The others were William Pulte, director designate of the Federal Housing Finance Agency; Jeffrey Kessler, the nominee for undersecretary of Commerce for industry and security; and Stephen Miran, the nominee for chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers.
