Kraninger Confirmation Vote Postponed

The Senate Banking Committee has postponed its hearing — originally scheduled for today — to vote on a list of executive appointments, including Kathy Kraninger’s nomination to be the next director of the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection.

A published report hinted that a last-minute push by Sen. Elizabeth Warren [D-Mass.] was a possible reason for the delay. Sen. Warren and other Democrats on the committee had sent Kraninger a list of 43 questions following her confirmation hearing in mid-July. Sen. Warren had sent a letter to Sen. Mike Crapo [R-Idaho], the chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, requesting a delay in her confirmation vote until those answers had been provided by Kraninger.

Sen. Crapo confirmed the postponement of the confirmation vote, but did not provide a reason for the delay. “An update will be sent when a new date has been scheduled,” the statement said.

Senate Democrats had pressured Kraninger during her confirmation hearing about her role in administration policies such as separating the children of illegal immigrants seeking to enter the United States and the federal government’s lackluster response to the devastation caused by Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico last year.

Kraninger would replace Mick Mulvaney, who has been the acting director of the BCFP since last November. Mulvaney was named acting director when former director Richard Cordray resigned to run for governor of Ohio. Kraninger was an associate director of the White House Office of Management & Budget prior to being nominated for the BCFP post. At OMB, Kraninger worked under Mulvaney, who is the OMB’s director.