Rohit Chopra, the director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, will be testifying before Congress next week on a wide range of issues from credit card late fees to small businesses lending.
Chopra is a composed public speaker, having honed his skills at testifying as a former Democrat on the Federal Trade Commission during the Trump administration and as the CFPB’s first student loan ombudsman. As CFPB director, he is required to appear before the Senate Banking Committee and House Financial Services Committee semiannually to report on the agency’s efforts, and his testimony in the House marks the first time he will have testified since Republicans took the lower chamber after the 2022 election.
Still, the contentious political climate forced the CFPB last year to create a special office devoted solely to responding to congressional probes. Republicans are expected to ratchet up the political rhetoric by renewing allegations that Chopra advanced a bank merger policy proposal that led to the resignation last year of former Federal Deposit Insurance Corp Chair Jelena McWilliams, an appointee of former President Donald Trump. Republicans also are likely to ask pointed questions about the CFPB’s funding that is being challenged before the Supreme Court.
Here are five issues lawmakers are expected to focus on when Chopra testifies on Tuesday before the Senate Banking Committee and on Wednesday before the House Financial Services Committee.
