This week, the Senate has a unique opportunity to stand up for consumers by confirming Kathy Kraninger to serve as the director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). Ms. Kraninger would be a welcome change to a government bureaucracy that has been riddled with corruption and partisan politics since its inception. 

Created as an independent agency after the financial crisis of 2008, the CFPB was intended to protect consumers from the financial bad actors that had caused the crisis. However, they instead targeted legal, regulated businesses who provide vital financial products to American consumers. 

Under the leadership of former Director Richard Corday, the bureau was used as a political weapon. Cordray targeted industries and products of his political foes and completely ignored the needs and desires of consumers. Thankfully, Cordray resigned and President Trump has nominated a seasoned, sensible bureaucrat who has the knowledge and experience to run the CFPB. 

Kathy Kraninger has been a loyal and accomplished public servant for over two decades—serving in the Departments of Transportation and Homeland Security and with the House and Senate Appropriations Committees. Most recently, Ms. Kraninger has served in the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) where she is responsible for the budget and policy management of seven cabinet departments and more than two dozen federal agencies and bureaus, including every federal office that’s responsible for consumer finance. That represents the oversight of $250 billion in federal tax dollars. 

With her decades of public service and her extensive experience managing budgets and bureaucracies, Ms. Kraninger is just the leader the CFPB needs to get back on track. The Senate should confirm Ms. Kraninger swiftly so she can begin her vital work at the CFPB.