After a great run as the first director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Richard Cordray has announced he's stepping down by the end of the month in a statement sent to CFPB employees, reading in part:
“As I have said many times, but feel just as much today as I ever have, it has been a joy in my life to have the opportunity to serve our country as the first director of the Consumer Bureau by working alongside all of you here. Together we have made a real and lasting difference that has improved people's lives, notably: $12 billion in relief recovered for nearly 30 million consumers; stronger safeguards against irresponsible mortgage practices that caused the financial crisis and hurt millions of Americans; giving people a voice by handling over 1.3 million complaints that led to problems getting fixed for vast numbers of individuals, and creating new ways to bring financial education to the public so that people can take more control over their economic lives. None of this could have happened without all of us being dedicated to pull together in supporting and protecting people and making every consumer count.”
That's all been achieved despite intense and ongoing attempts by Republicans to destroy the CFPB, because clearly they don't believe that American consumers should have access to financial protection. They also want to destroy the CFPB because it provides direct, ongoing proof that government can work really well to the benefit of individual people. That can't stand.
Which means that there's going to be a battle royale to save the bureau now that Cordray is not finishing out his term. Or maybe it won't be a battle. Maybe Trump will just refuse to nominate a new director and will try to allow the bureau to wither on the vine. Probably not: as we've seen with the example of Obamacare, Trump is more likely to use direct action to destroy things he doesn't like than to allow them to go away through neglect. Republicans are bound to use this opportunity, though, to defang the CFPB anyway they can.
As for Cordray, he's been rumored to be preparing for a run for the governor's office in Ohio. He was a former attorney general in that state and with his national profile, should be a formidable candidate.