Senate confirms Biden pick to lead consumer watchdog agency

The Senate has narrowly approved President Joe Biden’s pick to run the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, giving the bureau a director who is likely to embrace an aggressive “watchdog” role

WASHINGTON -- The Senate narrowly approved President Joe Biden's pick to run the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Thursday, giving the bureau a director who is likely to embrace an aggressive “watchdog” role, similar to how the agency operated under former President Barack Obama.

Rohit Chopra's nomination was approved 50-48, with Vice President Kamala Harris earlier having to cast a tie-breaking vote to end debate. Republicans were united in opposition to Chopra.

Before his approval, Chopra held one of the Democrat seats on the Federal Trade Commission, often using his position to publicly advocate for higher penalties and enforcement against companies found to have committed wrongdoing. A then GOP-controlled Senate unanimously confirmed Chopra to his FTC commissioner job in 2018, a point Democrats made during debates about his nomination when it became clear no Republican would vote to approve him this time.

Chopra, 39, was there at the bureau’s beginnings, brought on by then Harvard Professor Elizabeth Warren to help launch the bureau. He held several high-ranking positions at the CFPB during the Obama administration, including the top job handling student-loan issues.