McKernan, in limbo as CFPB nominee, to get a shot at Treasury

Mark Schoeff Jr., CQ-Roll Call on May 9, 2025

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WASHINGTON — Jonathan McKernan has become a White House favorite for financial regulatory positions.

The Senate has yet to act on McKernan’s nomination to become director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, but the Treasury Department said Friday that President Donald Trump intends to tap him to serve as undersecretary for domestic finance.

“McKernan has been an advisor at the Treasury Department while awaiting Senate confirmation to lead the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection,” Treasury said in a statement. “During that time, McKernan has become an integral part of the Secretary’s senior team. His continued service at Treasury will ensure that his experience and expertise are best put to advancing the President’s America First agenda.”

It’s not clear how the nomination for the Treasury role would affect McKernan’s nomination for the CFPB job. Neither McKernan nor a White House spokesperson immediately responded to a request for comment.

The Senate Banking Committee approved McKernan’s CFPB nomination on March 6.

Senate Banking Chair Tim Scott, R-S.C., told an American Bankers Association conference in April that a Senate floor vote on McKernan wouldn’t occur until the agency had achieved the “right size.”

McKernan, a former director at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and Senate aide, is awaiting his CFPB fate as the Trump administration tries to downsize it significantly. A federal judge has halted a reduction in CFPB staff — reportedly from about 1,700 to 200 — while the court considers a lawsuit to stop the changes planned for the agency.

Republicans say the agency frequently oversteps its authority and imposes regulations that put a costly burden on financial institutions and hurt consumers. Democrats praise the CFPB for returning approximately $21 billion to harmed consumers since its inception in the wake of the 2007-2008 financial crisis.

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