It’s no secret that Republican lawmakers loathe the controversial CFPB director. So why hasn’t the president fired him? Well, there may be a good reason, according to a new report
Why hasn’t Donald Trump fired Richard Cordray, the controversial director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau? Trump has made no secret of his disdain for the agency. Republican leaders in Congress have flat-out called for Cordray’s ouster. So what’s keeping the president from pulling the trigger?
According to a Politico report, it may be the hope that Cordray will leave on his own. Rumors have been swirling that Cordray wants to run for governor of Ohio, and Trump economic advisor Gary Cohn left a dinner with Cordray a few weeks ago believing the rumors to be true, Politico reported.
That belief has reportedly led the White House to hold off on firing Cordray. A public firing, it is feared, might give the controversial director’s gubernatorial candidacy free publicity.
Cordray hasn’t announced his intentions to run yet, but he may already have enough support to be a formidable candidate, according to Politico. While he’s reviled by much of the business community and by GOP lawmakers in Washington, Cordray is far more popular in Ohio.
Read more: Hensarling: Cordray acted ‘unlawfully,’ CFPB is a ‘tyranny’
“He would clear the field,” Republican strategist Mark Weaver told Politico. “There’s nobody else who has the credibility in the Democratic Party. He is a credible candidate who would come into the race and instantly be able to raise money.”
Even bankers in Ohio don’t feel the vitriol Cordray has endured on the national level, Politico reported.“We have no quarrel with Rich,” Jeff Quayle, a senior vice president at the Ohio Bankers League, told Politico. “He was given an incredibly hard job to do, starting a new agency from scratch. That was bound to lead to conflict.”
