Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell filed a procedural motion Thursday afternoon to clear the way for the chamber to confirm President Trump’s pick to run the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
McConnell filed cloture for consideration of Kathy Kraninger’s nomination, meaning a successful vote would end debate and allow for a confirmation vote.
Kraninger would supplant Trump administration budget chief Mick Mulvaney, who has acted as the bureau’s acting director since Obama appointee Richard Cordray left to run for Ohio governor last year. Kraninger is currently an aide at the Office of Management and Budget under Mulvaney.
A governmental agency closely tied to Sen. Elizabeth Warren D-Mass., who first proposed the idea of the bureau in 2006 and was blocked from leading financial regulator before she ran for Senate, the CFPB has been a political lightning rod since it was launched in 2011. Kraninger’s nomination will likely face heated opposition from Senate Democrats, though Republicans will be able to confirm her on a party line vote if all but one of them vote for her.
