Senate Democrats are finalizing the confirmation of Rohit Chopra to lead the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, nine months after President Biden nominated him for the post, The Washington Post reported. Senators voted 49-48 along party lines to advance Chopra’s nomination to the Senate floor from the Senate Banking Committee, where it snagged in March when senators also split along party lines, 12-12. Sens. Richard Burr (R-N.C.), Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) didn’t vote. Chopra now faces a final confirmation vote as early as next week. He would clear that last hurdle as long as all Senate Democrats continue to support his nomination, since Vice President Harris could break a tie in the evenly divided chamber. Chopra, who has served since 2018 as a Democratic commissioner on the Federal Trade Commission, outlined an aggressive agenda for the bureau in his confirmation testimony in March. He said he would focus on getting relief to Americans struggling under pandemic-related financial setbacks, in part by policing credit bureaus and mortgage and student lenders. Chopra stands to serve a five-year term at the helm of the federal consumer watchdog. He has a long history with the CFPB, which was created in the aftermath of the 2008-2009 financial crisis. He worked with Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) on establishing the bureau, then joined it in 2011 to investigate industry abuses in the student lending market.
