Dems call for hearings on Trump’s CFPB nominee to be put on hold

Democrats on the Senate Banking Committee are calling on the panel’s chairman, Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), to delay Thursday’s hearing for President Trump’s nominee to lead the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) if the administration does not respond to requests for information in time.

In a letter sent Tuesday night, which The Hill obtained, the panel’s Democrats said the administration has not responded to requests for relevant documents and other information in advance of Thursday’s hearing. Senators are scheduled to consider the nominations of Kathleen Kraninger to lead the CFPB and Kimberly Reed to be the president of the Export-Import Bank.

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Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) sent Kraninger a letter in June asking for information on what role she played in the Trump Administration’s policy of separating children from their families at the southern border.

And Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) sent Kraninger a letter last week, which Brown, Warren and Sen. Catherine Cortez (D-Nev.) joined, asking for a full accounting of Kraninger’s role in the administration’s botched response to Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico.

Kraninger now serves as the program associate director for general government programs in the Office of Management and Budget, where the Brown and Warren say she manages seven executive branch agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice.

“This oversight role involves not only preparing the President’s annual budget request for those agencies, but also providing ‘ongoing policy and management guidance,’ overseeing ;implementation of policy options,’ and working with agencies throughout the year as they shift money to implement new legislation or Administration policy,” they wrote in June.

“DOJ and DHS are the two agencies that developed and implemented the ‘Zero-Tolerance Policy.’”

In their letter to Crapo on Tuesday, the committee Democrats said if they do not receive responsive information in time to review it before Thursday’s hearing, they will not be able to conduct the kind of oversight and questioning that allows the Senate to preform its constitutional role of providing advice and consent.

“If the administration is unwilling or unable to provide responsive information in a timely manner, we respectfully ask that you postpone Thursday’s hearing on any nominee with outstanding information requests until such time as the information is available,” they asked Crapo.

A spokesperson for Crapo told The Hill the hearing is still scheduled for Thursday.

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