Jonathan McKernan to Be Nominated for Post at Treasury Instead of CFPB

Former Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) Board Member Jonathan McKernan will be nominated to serve in a post at the Treasury Department after previously being nominated to lead the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a Friday (May 9) press release that President Donald Trump intends to nominate McKernan to serve as the undersecretary of domestic finance at the Treasury Department.

Reuters reported Friday (May 9), citing a White House official, that McKernan will no longer be considered for the position at the CFPB and that a new nominee will be named for that role.

The Treasury Department press release said that McKernan has been an advisor to the Treasury Department while he was awaiting Senate confirmation for the CFPB position.

“During that time, McKernan has become an integral part of the Secretary’s senior team,” the release said. “His continued service at Treasury will ensure that his experience and expertise are best put to advancing the President’s America First agenda.”

Trump nominated McKernan for the CFPB director position on Feb. 11. McKernan resigned from his position on the FDIC board a day earlier as his term expired after having served on the board since 2023.

Prior to that, McKernan spent time as senior counsel for the Federal Housing Finance Agency and aide to former Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee.

As PYMNTS reported Feb. 24, before McKernan’s confirmation hearing in the Senate Banking Committee began on Feb. 27, McKernan wrote in a May 2023 social media post on financial services that “we should avoid the temptation to pile on yet more prescriptive regulation or otherwise push responsible risk taking out of the banking system.”

During his confirmation hearing, McKernan told lawmakers that the CFPB has “gotten in the way of its own mission” by acting in a politicized manner, pushing beyond the limits of its regulatory authority, expanding its jurisdiction and power, regulating by enforcement and failing to strike an appropriate balance between the costs and benefits of new regulation.

McKernan’s nomination to the CFPB post was advanced by a vote of the Senate Banking Committee on March 6 and was awaiting consideration by the full Senate.