RM Warren Presses Trump CFPB Nominee on His Refusal to Stop Trump Corruption at Agency

I recognize the ranking member. Thank you. In January 2025, the CFPB sued Capital One, which is your current employer, Mr. Johnson, and it was sued for cheating its customers out of more than $2 billion in interest payments on their savings accounts. But about a month after President Trump was sworn in and after Capital One donated a cool $1 million to his inauguration, Acting Director Vogt dropped the case against Capital One. This is one of 42 enforcement actions and investigations the CFPB has dropped against big banks and giant corporations since Donald Trump took office. Now, when he was here last week, I asked Director Vogt how many of those 42 cases against companies that we know donated to President Trump, and he said he didn't know how many had donated to President Trump. I said, we know at least some of them, Capital One, Apple, Bank of America, JP Morgan, Toyota, Walmart, Meta. They donate and they get actions from CFPB against them dropped, and who knows if there are more. But what I do know is that we need to clean this corruption up. So, Mr. Johnson, will you commit to notifying Congress and the Inspector General immediately if the White House contacts you about an enforcement action against a Trump family company or a big donor that cheated families? Senator, when I served at CFPB, that never happened to my knowledge and I don't anticipate it would. That's not my question. My question is, if it does, will you notify Congress and will you notify the Inspector General? Look, there's obviously a problem here. I'm looking for a way to clean it up. You're the guy in the seat who can do this. Will you agree to notify us if you get a call about a political donor or member of the Trump family who is asking about an ongoing investigation? Senator, with respect, I dispute the premise of the question. I don't anticipate that happening. I don't care whether you like the premise. I am giving you a set of facts that are not made up. It's happening right now. I want your commitment that if it happens on your watch, you'll pick up the phone and call us. Our job is oversight. That's not so hard. Are you willing to do that? Senator, I'm not gonna engage in a- Okay, so the answer is no. You will not try to hose out the corruption. Look, the CFPB is currently being used as an arm of President Trump's ongoing corruption, including his corporate pardon machine. And your answer indicates you're just gonna keep that machine humming. So let me ask you about President Trump's plan to kill off the CFPB. Acting Director Vogt tried to fire 90% of the staff. A court told him he can't do that on his own. So now he's proposing to fire half the staff, including almost 300 examiners. Now, those are the financial cops whose job it is to ensure that the banks and the lenders are following the law and treating customers fairly. Mr. Johnson, does going from 350 examiners down to 77 examiners make it more or less likely that companies like your current employer, Capital One, will get away with hurting consumers? Senator, I believe it depends on the CFPB's examination strategy. So you think you can do just as much with 77 people as you can with 350 to catch the crooks? Senator, what I would note is that that staffing plan is subject to litigation. Yeah, I know it's subject to litigation because he's not allowed to shut it down by himself. All right, let me just ask you then about your turn through the revolving door. You worked at the CFPB as a Deputy Director from 2017 until 2020, and then you became a VP at Capital One at the same time that the CFPB dropped its enforcement action against Capital One. Mr. Johnson, do you still work for Capital One today? I do, Senator. I am here today in my personal capacity. So you're drawing a paycheck from Capital One right now as you sit here and testify in front of us? Senator, I'm testifying in my personal capacity today. Okay, but they're paying you to get confirmed for this job. I understand they're also letting you keep a bonus that you haven't yet earned when you leave. You know, they must be really excited about getting you confirmed here. Congress did not create the CFPB to aid and abet Trump's corruption. You had a chance to take a different path, but all you've done today is indicate you're there to keep the corruption machine humming.