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The National Association of REALTORS® this week released a statement expressing support for President Donald Trump’s nominee, Jonathan McKernan, to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. If confirmed by the Senate, McKernan begins a five-year term as director of the CFPB.
The CFPB was created after the 2007–09 Great Recession to protect consumers from deceptive and discriminatory lending practices. Such practices led to a housing bubble that burst in 2007, precipitating a global financial crisis. The CFPB also educates consumers about the smart use of revolving credit and mortgages.
In supporting McKernan’s nomination, NAR affirmed its support for the CFPB’s mission to enforce key consumer protections and financial regulations, especially in the mortgage markets. “The Great Recession unfortunately showed that markets left unchecked can lead to disastrous results,” says NAR Chief Advocacy Officer Shannon McGahn.
NAR Priority: Balancing Consumer Protections and Housing Market Needs
About three in four buyers today finance their home purchase, according to NAR’s latest Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers. For NAR members, it’s critical that their clients understand what they’re getting into when they take out a mortgage, and NAR has worked closely with CFPB over the years in its mission to educate and protect consumers.
But the association has also expressed concerns about the effect of certain CFPB rules and enforcement actions on the affordability and availability of credit.
“NAR strongly supports the consumer protections at the heart of CFPB's mission,” McGahn says. “We have concerns regarding recent actions at the CFPB that can create uncertainty for companies regarding their legal obligations while the legality of [those actions] face challenges in the federal courts. Uncertainty in regulation and oversight, along with pauses on key CFPB duties, can spook lenders and mortgage markets and constrain credit even further.”
NAR’s Housing Affordability Index in 2024 showed that a household earning the median family income of $101,360 couldn’t afford the median priced home of $412,400. The affordability crunch, exacerbated by an estimated supply shortage of 4.7 million units, is making it difficult for many Americans to pursue homeownership.
“Given the current situation, all actions must be considered to ease the burdens on consumers looking to enter homeownership,” says McGahn.
Why McKernan Is the Right Person to Lead the CFPB
McGahn says a thoughtful and balanced approach is needed to create a robust lending environment: “We believe that Mr. McKernan is uniquely suited in finding this balance and leading the CFPB into its next chapter.”
McKernan was most recently a director with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., which has regulatory oversight of financial institutions operating in the U.S. Before he began that position in January 2023, he was counsel to Sen. Pat Toomey (R.-Pa.) when Toomey served as ranking member on the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. McKernan also previously served as a senior counsel at the Federal Housing Finance Agency, a senior policy advisor at the Treasury Department and a senior financial policy advisor to Sen. Bob Corker (R.-Tenn).
Before entering government service, McKernan was an attorney in private practice focused on matters related to banking and consumer financial laws. He holds a bachelor’s and master’s in economics from the University of Tennessee and a law degree from Duke University.
