Trump to shift consumer watchdog pick to senior Treasury role

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By Pete Schroeder

(Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Jonathan McKernan, has instead been nominated to a senior role in the Treasury Department, the Treasury said in a statement on Friday.

McKernan, who Trump tapped in February to head the consumer watchdog and was awaiting Senate confirmation, will now be nominated for the role of undersecretary of domestic finance at the U.S. Department of the Treasury.

The move means McKernan will no longer be under consideration to lead the CFPB and a new nominee will need to be named, a White House official said.

The consumer bureau, which is undergoing a dramatic upheaval under Trump, is currently led by Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought on an acting basis.

The Treasury said McKernan had been a Treasury advisor while awaiting confirmation for the CFPB role and became an integral part of Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s senior team during that time.

McKernan previously served on the board of directors of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and held senior roles at the Federal Housing Finance Agency, the Treasury Department and the U.S. Senate, the Treasury Department said in its statement.

(Reporting by Ismail Shakil in Ottawa and Pete Schroeder in Washington; Editing by Nia Williams)