MBA welcomes pick as mortgage brokers watch for signals on LO comp and regulatory direction
President Donald Trump moved Wednesday to give the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) its first permanent director since returning to office, nominating Brian Johnson, a former agency insider with deep roots in Capitol Hill and the mortgage industry, to lead the bureau.
Johnson served as CFPB deputy director from 2018 to 2020 under Kathy Kraninger during Trump's first term, where he had significant sway over what the bureau did and did not pursue. Before joining the CFPB, he spent more than 12 years on Capitol Hill, including as chief counsel for the House Committee on Financial Services.
After leaving the bureau in 2020, he worked as a managing director at Patomak Global Partners before moving to Capital One, where he most recently served as vice president and US card compliance officer.
The timeline of Johnson’s confirmation is unknown, but this is not the first time the Trump administration has moved to fill the role.
In November 2025, the White House nominated Stuart Levenbach, an Office of Management and Budget associate director, in a move widely described as a tactical maneuver to extend acting director Russell Vought's tenure beyond the 210-day limit under the Federal Vacancies Reform Act. Vought's authority was set to run out in August, making a genuine nominee a practical necessity.
A known quantity in the industry
Johnson's background is well known to the mortgage industry. His time as deputy director coincided with a period when the bureau pulled back on enforcement activity, a move the industry largely welcomed. In 2023, he told the House Financial Services Committee that the CFPB was "ripe for reform" but also that "properly structured and managed, the CFPB is capable of great good."
The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) moved quickly to welcome the nomination. Bob Broeksmit, MBA president and CEO, said Johnson's track record gave the industry confidence in the pick.
"MBA welcomes the nomination of Brian Johnson to serve as Director of the CFPB," Broeksmit said. "Johnson brings deep experience and knowledge in consumer financial services policy and law, including service as CFPB Deputy Director and in senior policy roles at the Bureau, where he helped oversee rulemaking, supervision, and enforcement activities.
"The CFPB is an important partner to our industry, and we will continue to work together to advance reforms that lower costs, reduce unnecessary regulatory burdens, and improve access to sustainable homeownership opportunities.”
What brokers are watching
Despite a downsizing of the organization in the first year of the second Trump administration term, there is work to be done. The CFPB submitted a rulemaking to rescind loan originator compensation requirements under the Truth in Lending Act in June 2025, and the industry has been waiting for movement on that proposal since. A confirmed director with Johnson's background could accelerate that process, though no timeline has been publicly indicated.
Vought's reduced footprint at the bureau also pushed enforcement activity to the states, leaving brokers operating across multiple jurisdictions to navigate a patchwork of requirements. A permanent director with a clear policy direction could settle some of that uncertainty.
Johnson's nomination now goes to the Senate Banking Committee, where Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, the bureau's most prominent advocate, is the top-ranking Democrat. Warren did not hold back.
"Starting in August, Russ Vought can no longer legally serve as Donald Trump's hatchet man at the CFPB," Warren said. "So here comes the next hatchet man to try to finish the job and gut an agency that has returned more than $21 billion to cheated consumers."
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