Brian Johnson, a Republican political appointee at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau who has had a hand in resetting the agency’s recent policy agenda, has been named its deputy director.
Johnson has served as acting deputy director since July 2018 and was named a principal policy director in April. He was hired in 2017 as a senior adviser by former acting CFPB Director Mick Mulvaney, who
Johnson spent more than five years as a senior counsel and policy director at the House Financial Services Committee, where he conducted oversight of the CFPB, including issuing subpoenas accusing former CFPB Director Richard Cordray of violating the Hatch Act, which bars certain federal employees from taking actions to run for election. (The U.S. Office of Special Counsel later found there was no evidence that Cordray violated the law when he ran for governor of Ohio after leaving the CFPB in 2017.)
CFPB Director Kathy Kraninger praised Johnson as “an invaluable part of the team.”
“Brian’s extensive experience on consumer and financial policy will continue to serve the Bureau in its focus on preventing consumer harm and using all of the tools Congress gave us to protect consumers,” Kraninger said in a press release.
Johnson spent just over a year as an Ohio assistant attorney general, as a law clerk and as a staff assistant in the George W. Bush administration. He spent two years as a legislative correspondent for Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., after graduating from law school at the University of Virginia.
