President Joe Biden is weighing whether to nominate attorney and former Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Richard Cordray as the Federal Reserve’s top banking regulator, people familiar with the discussions told The Wall Street Journal Tuesday (Nov. 30).
Cordray would be “the government’s most influential overseer of the American banking system” if Biden nominates him and the Senate confirms his nomination. He would succeed Randal Quarles as the Fed’s vice chairman of banking supervision if he’s nominated and confirmed.
Cordray was head of the CFPB from 2012 to 2017 and is now the chief operating officer of Federal Student Aid for the U.S. Department of Education, where he manages the $1.6 trillion student loan program.
Under Cordray, the CFPB tightened underwriting standards for mortgages, required more disclosure on credit card rates and fees and introduced federal government oversight to payday lending, according to the WSJ report.
Progressive Democrats have pushed for the central bank to toughen its regulations of big banks and be more proactive in addressing financial risks posed by climate change.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) has privately pushed senior White House officials to consider Cordray for the vice chairman role, according to the WSJ report.
The White House said last week it would announce additional Fed appointments in December. Biden last week said he would nominate Fed Chairman Jerome Powell to a second four-year term and elevate Fed governor Lael Brainard to succeed Vice Chairman Richard Clarida when his term expires next year.
Related: Fed’s Debt Data Report Signals Pressures for Paycheck-to-Paycheck Consumers
Earlier this month, Federal Reserve Bank of New York data showed that U.S. credit card debt increased by $17 billion in the most recent quarter, the second straight quarterly increase.
Total household debt topped $15 trillion after a $286 billion (1.9%) increase in the most recent quarter. Mortgage balances — the largest component of household debt — rose by $230 billion to reach $10.7 trillion at the end of September.
Credit card debt is $123 billion lower than at the end of 2019, while auto loan balances have increased by $28 billion since the end of 2019.
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