Financial Services Committee’s staff director to become CFPB’s chief of staff

By Thomas G. Wolfe, J.D.

The House Financial Services Committee’s staff director, Kirsten Sutton Mork, is leaving the committee to serve as chief of staff for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, according to a January 2018, announcement by Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas). Hensarling also took the opportunity to announce that Shannon McGahn would replace Mork as the Financial Services Committee’s staff director after Mork departs for the CFPB in the near future.

Commending Mork for her leadership, character, and “commitment to conservative principles” in her committee role, Hensarling expressed his confidence that Mork “will do an outstanding job as Chief of Staff for the CFPB and be a tireless advocate for American consumers.” Likewise, noting that McGahn had been a staff director for the committee in the past, Hensarling welcomed McGahn back, stating that McGahn will be “invaluable this year as we work to put forth bold solutions to reform our broken housing finance system and continue our efforts to pass legislation that promotes a healthy economy that is working for all working Americans.”

Concerns of Allied Progress. Meanwhile, in a Jan. 5, 2018, release, Karl Frisch, Executive Director of Allied Progress, which refers to itself as a “consumer watchdog organization,” expressed his concern about Mork becoming the Bureau’s chief of staff. “Kirsten Sutton Mork has spent much of her career looking out for the interests of big banks and Wall Street heavy hitters—she’ll be no different at the CFPB. She simply can’t be trusted to protect consumers from these extremely powerful special interests,” Frisch remarked.

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