Trump’s New Consumer Finance Regulator Loves Pleasing Banks
Donald Trump has announced the new chief of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau: Jonathan McKernan, a former banking regulator who’s pushed to approve bank megamergers that harm consumers and that the CFPB has previously fought to prevent.
Demonstrators hold signs at a protest against President Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s anticipated plan to close the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, in front of the CFPB headquarters in Washington, DC, February 10, 2025. (Saul Loeb / AFP via Getty Images)
If you love junk fees, higher interest rates, fewer banking options, and all the other documented effects of bank mergers, then you (along with bank lobbyists) will likely love President Donald Trump’s new pick to run the nation’s consumer protection agency.
On Tuesday, Trump announced the new chief of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), the consumer watchdog agency created in response to the 2008 financial crisis: Jonathan McKernan, a former banking regulator who’s pushed to approve bank megamergers that harm consumers and that the CFPB has actively fought to prevent.
Meanwhile, Trump and his cronies are freezing the agency’s operations and threatening to cut off its funding. As workers remain shut out of their offices, McKernan will now helm the agency — or what’s left of it.
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