WASHINGTON – President-elect Joe Biden chose Rohit Chopra to be the next director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, two sources told NBC News.
Chopra, a member of the Federal Trade Commission, helped launch the agency in 2011 and previously served as its assistant director.
He is an ally of Senator Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., Who proposed and built the consumer-focused agency. It is also supported by progressive groups. Bloomberg first reported on Chopra’s selection.
Among those who applauded the change on Sunday were Randi Weingarten, leader of the American Federation of Teachers, and the consumer protection organization Public Citizen, who called it a “fantastic choice that will take the agency back to its days of really fighting for consumers”.
At the CFPB, Chopra worked on student loan issues and helped secure funding for people illegally targeted by debt collectors, for-profit colleges and others, according to his agency’s biography.
At the FTC, he “pushed for aggressive solutions against offending companies, especially repeat offenders, and worked to reverse the FTC’s reliance on cashless and blameless agreements,” says his biography.
Geoff Bennett reported from Washington and Tim Stelloh from California.
