Rohit Chopra, is ready to depart from his job as the director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) – but as of this writing, the Biden-appointed regulator is still at work because President Trump has not named a new director for the agency.
In an interview with Politico, Chopra – a political ally of Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) – said he was ready to leave the job if Trump opted to have him replaced; Chopra was among the few major Biden appointees who did not resign ahead of the Trump inauguration. But until word comes from the White House that his services were no longer needed, Chopra insisted he would serve out his term, which concludes in late 2026.
“We’ve been preparing a transition, and I am ready to hand off the baton if they have a runner ready, but until that time, we are dealing with a lot of work at the bureau,” Chopra said. “I’ll keep serving my five-year term until I hear otherwise,” Chopra said.
Chopra added that he has no plans to pause his focus on enforcements on financial services companies.
“We have a lot of investigations in the pipeline,” Chopra continued. “There is a ton of work that is moving forward, but I’m really hopeful that no matter what the future holds, there is going to be strong support for some of our rulemakings.”
Chopra’s leadership of the CFPB generated criticism from Republican lawmakers and major banks. Among the sharpest complaints aimed at Chopra was the comment by JPMorgan Chase Chairman and CEO Jamie Dimon, who wisecracked, “Rohit is a very smart guy who has one major flaw, which I told him personally, which is that you use your brains to justify what you already think.”
