Amid an onslaught of legal turmoil surrounding the agency’s constitutional standing, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) moved forward with business as usual in regards to its executive leadership team.
The CFPB announced the addition of five new executives to positions overseeing supervisory and enforcement matters pertaining to fair lending, as well as roles geared toward facilitating the bureau’s consumer education and research efforts.
Karla Carnemark was named the CFPB’s new deputy chief of staff. Carnemark brings more than 20 years of public service experience to the bureau, specializing in project management and government affairs. She has worked with senior-level government executives from the Department of Defense, Department of Commerce and the Department of Transportation. Carnemark also served on Capitol Hill on the staff of Rep. Deborah Pryce (R-Ohio).
Bryan A. Schneider will serve as the associate director of CFPB’s Supervision, Enforcement and Fair Lending (SEFL) Division. Schneider most recently served as secretary of the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, a cabinet-level agency. Previously, he worked for the Walgreen Co. for 15 years in numerous capacities, from divisional vice president and assistant general counsel to senior attorney, according to a CFPB press release.
Desmond Brown has been tapped to serve as the deputy associate director for the CFPB’s Consumer Education and Engagement Division. Brown has worked for the bureau since 2012 and has more than two decades of experience working with national and local organizations to increase financial well-being and economic opportunities for consumers, according to a CFPB press release. He started with the bureau as a program specialist for the Office of Financial Empowerment.
Jason Brown will serve as the bureau’s assistant director for research. Brown has 16 years of federal government experience, most recently as the associate commissioner for the Social Security Administration’s Office of Research, Evaluation, and Statistics. Prior to this appointment he served in numerous capacities as an economist at the Department of the Treasury.
Ren Essene will serve as the bureau’s chief data officer, having worked for the bureau in several capacities since 2011. She previously worked at the Federal Reserve, and her career in information management and housing issues spans more than 25 years, according to the bureau.
The CFPB’s last round of executive appointments was announced in May when Brian Johnson was named the bureau’s deputy director, a role he had filled in an acting capacity since July 2018.
The latest additions come only a week following CFPB Director Kathy Kraninger’s announcement that she agrees with the Department of Justice’s contention the bureau is unconstitutionally structured – a case that has the potential to lead to the bureau’s elimination, depending on whether the Supreme Court decides to hear it and what determination it makes.