President Donald Trump has withdrawn his nomination of Jonathan McKernan for CFPB Director. This message of withdrawal, delivered to the U.S. Senate on May 12, 2025, comes after U.S. Department of the Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced on May 9, 2025, that Jonathan McKernan has been selected by President Donald Trump to serve as the Undersecretary of Domestic Finance at the Treasury Department.
Since being nominated in February 2025, McKernan has reportedly been serving as an advisor to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessett while awaiting the U.S. Senate's confirmation vote. In his position as advisor to Bessent, McKernan became "an integral part of the secretary's senior team" and his "continued service at Treasury will ensure that his experience and expertise are best put to advancing the president's America First agenda," the department stated in its May 9 announcement.
There has not been any insight as to who will be selected to lead the CFPB now that McKernan will be repositioned to the Treasury Department. Notably, this announcement comes amid CFPB Acting Director Russell Vought's efforts to dramatically scale back the size and activities of the agency. In April 2025, and Scott expressed that Republicans hoped for Vought to "get as much of that work done" as possible prior to McKernan's entry as director of the CFPB.
Vought appears to be continuing with his agenda despite the questions as to who will lead the CFPB long-term. Recently, Vought directed the CFPB to abandon several lawsuits challenging agency rules, as well as leading an agencywide review of guidance materials, as previously reported by Holland & Knight. Without a new nominee for CFPB director, it appears that Vought will continue with the Trump Administration's goals of reducing the CFPB's activities and footprint, at least in the short to medium term.
Visit Holland & Knight's resource center, CFPB Dispatch: Legal Updates and Insights, to stay on top of the latest CFPB developments.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
