Obama-Appointed Consumer Bureau Director Cordray Announces Resignation

FILE - In this Nov. 12, 2013, file photo, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Richard Cordray testifies before a Senate Committee on Banking hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington. The CFPB, the nation’s youngest government agency, recently celebrated its four-year anniversary. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)
FILE - In this Nov. 12, 2013, file photo, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Richard Cordray testifies before a Senate Committee on Banking hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington. Cordray has announced plan... FILE - In this Nov. 12, 2013, file photo, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Richard Cordray testifies before a Senate Committee on Banking hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington. Cordray has announced plans to resign his office by the end of November 2017. He is expected to return to his home state of Ohio to run for governor. The Democrat has been a leading critic of President Donald Trump within the government. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File) MORE LESS

NEW YORK (AP) — Richard Cordray, the first director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, said Wednesday he will leave the position by the end of the month.

Corday was appointed by President Barack Obama. His early resignation will give President Donald Trump a chance to appoint his own director of the powerful agency established in the wake of the financial crisis. A Trump appointee could roll back the protections Cordray and his staff put into place in the agency’s first years.

Cordray’s resignation is not unexpected. The Ohio native had been widely expected to make a run for governor of his home state in 2018, and he could not hold his position as director of the CFPB and run at the same time.

“It has been a joy of my life to have the opportunity to serve our country as the first director of the Consumer Bureau,” Cordray said in a memo addressed to agency employees. He did not give a reason for his resignation.

The CFPB was created as part of the laws passed following the 2008 financial crisis and subsequent recession. The agency was given a broad mandate to be a watchdog for consumers when they deal with banks, credit card, student loan and mortgage companies, as well as debt collectors and payday lenders.

Cordray took the agency’s mandate aggressively. The bureau implemented or proposed a myriad of news and regulations for the banking industry, which oftentimes made him a target for the industry’s Washington lobbyists and Congressional Republicans who believed Cordray was overreaching in his role. Some Congressional Republicans had urged President Trump to fire Cordray.

Based on Trump’s previous appointments, his choice is likely to be far friendlier to the financial industry than Cordray.

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  1. The Daycare Dotard will have this position filled in no time.

    Step 1: Pardon Bernie Madoff
    Step 2: Appoint Madoff director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
    Step 3: Golf

  2. Avatar for imkmu3 imkmu3 says:

    From Wiki:

    Madoff’s projected release date is November 14, 2139. The release date, described as “academic” in Madoff’s case because he would have to live to the age of 201, reflects a reduction for good behavior. On October 13, 2009, it was reported that Madoff experienced his first prison yard fight with another inmate, also a senior citizen. When he began his sentence, Madoff’s stress levels were so severe that he broke out in hives and other skin maladies soon after.

  3. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau?

    I’m surprised Donnie didn’t kill it on Day One of his reign of incompetence…

  4. I actually used this agency when my company credit card came up for renewal and Wells Fargo Bank said I had to give them the company gross receipts in order to activate it. I called CFPB and was told is voluntary , not mandatory.

    I never gave Wells Fargo the amount.

  5. Wells Fargo doing something shady? I’m shocked.

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