The process for Rohit Chopra to become the next director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has officially started. On Saturday, the White House submitted Chopra’s name, among other nominations, to the Senate for confirmation. The Senate Banking Committee has received Chopra’s nomination and must now schedule its confirmation hearing.
If confirmed by the Senate Banking Committee, which most expect he will be, Chopra’s nomination would then go to the full Senate for its approval. Provided that occurs, Chopra could then be sworn in as director of the CFPB and take over for Dave Uejio, who has been the Bureau’s Acting Director since January, when Kathleen Kraninger resigned at the request of President Biden.
The White House did not offer any context detailing why Chopra’s nomination took nearly three weeks to be sent to the Senate. There appeared to be three other nominations that have been sent to the Senate Banking Committee which will likely be handled first before Chopra.
As an FYI, Kraninger was nominated to be the CFPB’s Director on June 20, 2018. She went before the Senate Banking Committee a month later, and was confirmed by the committee in August. The full Senate voted on her nomination in December 2018 and approved her by a vote of 50-49.
Whether that timeline holds for Chopra’s nomination remains to be seen. The process of confirming candidates has been slow since President Biden took office as the Senate has dealt with a new relief package to address the COVID-19 pandemic and the impeachment trial of former President Trump.
It will be interesting to watch Chopra’s confirmation process as it moves through the Senate. The deadlock in the Senate between Democrats and Republicans could make the confirmation process take longer and we may see Vice President Harris called on to cast a tie-breaking vote if Chopra’s confirmation becomes a party-line vote.
