Rohit Chopra’s nomination to a five-year term as director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is ready for Senate action following the chamber’s vote Tuesday to discharge the nomination from the Senate Banking Committee.
Chopra’s nomination was voted on by the committee in March, action that ended in a stalemate, with a vote of 12 yeas and 12 nays. A motion to discharge the nomination from the committee cleared on a close, party-line vote of 49-48.
Senate Banking Chairman Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) on Wednesday urged senators’ support for confirmation. “Americans need someone at the helm of the CFPB who is ready to stand up to the biggest banks and the most powerful corporations in order to protect consumers. Rohit Chopra has the expertise and track record to lead an agency dedicated to protecting working families and all consumers,” he said.
Nominated by President Joe Biden (D) to head the agency in February, Chopra has been a Federal Trade Commission (FTC) member since 2018. He served as assistant director of the CFPB, overseeing the bureau’s student loan agenda, during the Obama administration and was student loan ombudsperson while there (in a post mandated by the law that established the agency itself, the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act). Chopra also played a role in launching the agency in 2011.
Dave Uejio, with the CFPB since 2012, has been serving as the bureau’s acting director since the resignation of Kathy Kraninger. Uejio has served the agency as acting chief of staff, lead for talent acquisition, and chief strategy officer.