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Gensler and Chopra are both allies of Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren. Currently a member of the Federal Trade Commission, Chopra will return – if confirmed – to CFPB, where he previously worked as the main student loan watchdog. The appointment of Gensler, a former Goldman Sachs executive turned fierce advocate of stricter regulation on big banks, is a signal that Biden’s team is about to take a harsher line with Wall Street than the administrations previous ones.
The picks are a victory for the progressive wing of the Democratic Party, which has led the charge for more aggressive supervision of the financial sector. Chopra was downstairs with Warren, who built the CFPB as part of the Dodd-Frank Act passed in response to the 2008 financial crisis. Gensler worked for a time in the Obama administration as a Chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, where he has built a reputation for tough regulation.
As news of the choices emerged on Sunday night, progressive groups and others committed to reducing Wall Street’s influence in Washington celebrated.
“There are a lot of financiers who are getting insanely wealthy by taking advantage of lax ‘regulators’ on both sides to essentially defraud the American people. These people are nervously leading Zooms with high-priced lawyers right now,” said Jeff Hauser. , responsible for the revolving door project. “Biden’s financial regulatory regime is exactly what it needs to deliver tangible, positive results for anyone who isn’t a sticky banker.”
Chopra was among the names of the preferred potential candidates listed early in the transition by the Progressive Change Institute, which was founded by the same duo that formed the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, a group aligned with Warren.
“If Biden chooses someone from Rohit Chopra’s gravitas to lead the CFPB, it would be a big victory for consumers and a sign that executive power will be used to achieve tangible results for the American people,” the PCCC tweeted on Sunday. evening. “Rohit has a proven track record in tackling corporate abuse on behalf of ordinary families who don’t want to be cheated.”
The selection of Chopra, who served as the student loans ombudsman while at CFPB, will also boost the confidence of the progressive leaders who drove Biden to act swiftly and with ambition to deal with the student debt crisis.
Warren and future Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York called on Biden to use his executive power to write off up to $ 50,000 in student debt per borrower. Biden, however, seemed reluctant to hit that number or bypass Congress with his more limited proposal of $ 10,000 per person.
But he called on lawmakers to act and plans, through his education ministry, to extend the current hiatus on student loan payments.
This story has been updated with additional reports.
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