NEW YORK (AP) — President Donald Trump on Wednesday named Brian Johnson as his choice to be the next director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, turning to a trusted former aide and financial services executive who helped run the CFPB during his first term to now run the bureau for the rest of his second term in office.
Johnson was the deputy director of the bureau under Trump's first CFPB director, Kathy Kraninger, and was known for being a powerful aide to Kraninger during her tenure who had significant leeway in deciding what the bureau should or should not work on. Since leaving the CFPB in 2020, Johnson worked at Patomak Global Partners and was most recently a senior executive at the credit card giant Capital One.
If confirmed by the Senate, Johnson will inherit a bureau that's largely been inoperable since Trump came back into office and put his budget director, Russell Vought, in charge on an acting basis. Much of the bureau's recent activity has directed at unwinding its previous work.
Congress created the CFPB in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis and subsequent recession, designed to operate as an independent financial regulator with broad enforcement authority over consumer financial products and services. Republicans have long seen the CFPB as an agency with too much centralized power and unaccountable to Congress, and they have repeatedly attempted to diminish it since its creation.
Johnson has long been a vocal critic of the bureau's work, particularly under President Joe Biden's choice to run the bureau, Rohit Chopra. However, Johnson’s previous public statements about the bureau differ significantly from Vought, who has publicly said he would like the CFPB shut down or eliminated. Vought's tenure as acting director will run out in August.
While Johnson testified in 2023 to the House Financial Services Committee that the bureau is “ripe for reform” either by Congress or internally, he believed that "properly structured and managed, (the CFPB) is capable of great good.”
Lindsey Johnson, the president and CEO of the banking industry lobby group Consumer Bankers Association, described Johnson as having a “tenured background steeped in consumer protection policy." Lindsey Johnson is unrelated to Brian Johnson.
Johnson's nomination will go to the Senate Banking Committee, where Sen. Elizabeth Warren, the bureau's biggest advocate, is now the top-ranking Democrat on the committee. Warren was a critic of Johnson when he was deputy director of the bureau during Trump's first term, and was also critical of Johnson's nomination.
“Russ Vought can no longer serve as Donald Trump's hatchet man at the CFPB. So here comes the next hatchet man to try to finish the job,” Warren said in a statement.
FILE - A security officer works inside of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) building headquarters, Feb. 10, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The U.S. military said Wednesday it has begun another round of strikes against Iran after President Donald Trump said more were coming. The escalating attacks threatened to derail efforts to end the war, with Trump warning that Tehran would “pay the price” for stalled negotiations.
U.S. Central Command said in a social media post that the military is striking “multiple targets in Iran” and that it’s being done “in response to Iran’s unwarranted and continued aggression.”
The strikes come a day after the U.S. struck Iran following the crash of an Army helicopter near the Strait of Hormuz that Trump blamed on the Islamic Republic.
Trump urged Iran to sign a deal to end the war.
Earlier Wednesday, the U.S. military said it had fired on an oil tanker attempting to transport oil from Iran in violation of its blockade on Iranian ports.
Trump's comments underlined his whipsaw approach to the war; earlier this week he suggested a deal to end the conflict could be reached in a matter of days.
Iran has proved resilient despite weeks of heavy bombing. It is betting that its ability to effectively close the Strait of Hormuz — a crucial passageway for oil and natural gas — gives it a strong bargaining chip.
Iran’s United Nations envoy said the U.S. should refrain from threats of force if it wants a deal.
“Iran has never negotiated under threats and pressure and will never submit to pressure or question,” Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani told the U.N. Security Council on Wednesday.
Still, both countries seem to be looking for a way to end the conflict — if they can manage to sell it as a win at home.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appears intent on pursuing goals that make compromise harder: the collapse of Iran’s theocratic government, the elimination of its nuclear program, and the destruction of the Iranian-allied Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon. On Monday, Iran and Israel targeted each other.
Since the U.S. and Israel started the war with Feb. 28 attacks on Iran, the conflict has shaken the global economy, driven up energy prices worldwide, and made food and other basics more expensive.
The international benchmark for crude oil traded above $93 a barrel on Wednesday, up more than 25% since the start of the war.
Trump said Wednesday the U.S. military has since last month undertaken a “secret mission” to sneak oil shipments past Iran’s forces in the Strait of Hormuz. He said ships were slipping through at night, aided by the destruction of Iranian radar equipment.
Trump said as a result more than 100 million barrels of oil have evaded Iran’s chokehold on the strait. There was no immediate confirmation of that figure, which roughly equals five days of oil shipments through the waterway before the war began.
The military’s role was not immediately clear. Capt. Tim Hawkins, a Central Command spokesman, said U.S. forces “communicate and coordinate” with commercial ships in the area, but gave no details on military support being offered.
The U.S. military said Wednesday an American aircraft fired “precision munitions” into the engine room of the Palau-flagged vessel M/T Settebello as it attempted to breach the naval blockade with a shipment of Iranian oil. It was the eighth merchant vessel disabled by U.S. forces in waters off Iran.
India’s foreign ministry said three Indian sailors were missing after the Settebello was struck, while 21 others were rescued. Its statement did not mention the U.S. military or the blockade.
Hawkins of U.S. Central Command said American forces warned the crew before firing on the ship.
The U.S. military said strikes earlier Wednesday targeted “air defense, ground control stations, and surveillance radar sites."
Iran said U.S. strikes hit two water reservoirs in the southern city of Sirik, temporarily cutting off water to thousands of people. U.S. Central Command had no immediate comment.
Tehran later claimed attacks in Kuwait, Bahrain and Jordan.
Jordan said it shot down five incoming missiles, which Iran said targeted an air base hosting American military aircraft.
Bahrain and Kuwait said they intercepted incoming fire.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi condemned the American attacks as a violation of Iranian sovereignty. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said in televised comments that, following the new attacks, Iran would review its stance on negotiations to end the war.
Efforts to mediate a deal continued. Following consultations with the U.S., a delegation from Qatar arrived in Tehran for talks on Wednesday, according to an official with knowledge of the visit who requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the talks.
The exchanges of fire came a day after a U.S. Army attack helicopter crashed near the Strait of Hormuz. The helicopter collided with an Iranian drone, according to a U.S. official speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation. It wasn’t clear whether the collision was intentional.
A drone boat rescued the helicopter’s two crew. Trump said they were uninjured.
Wary of high gas prices in the run-up to congressional elections in November, Trump seems to be looking for a quick win. But he is also making demands that will be tough for Iran to swallow.
The U.S. wants to see Iran give up its stockpile of highly enriched uranium. While Iran insists its nuclear program is peaceful, that uranium is a short technical step from weapons-grade levels.
Iran is refusing to give up the uranium and demanding relief from sanctions. It also wants the release of frozen assets even before a final agreement is in place, something Trump rejected.
It's not clear how those differences can be bridged. In a Truth Social post Wednesday, Trump said Iran was taking “too long to negotiate a deal" and "now they will have to pay the price!!!”
Iran has insisted that any deal to end the war must also end fighting between its ally Hezbollah and Israel. Israel has instead intensified its military campaign against the Lebanon-based militant group.
An airstrike on a village east of Tyre killed at least six people, Lebanon's state-run National News Agency reported. It said two others were killed by an Israeli drone strike on a car in the southern city of Sidon.
Price reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Konstantin Toropin and Will Weissert in Washington; Natalie Melzer in Nahariya, Israel; David Rising in Bangkok; Bassem Mroue in Beirut; Michelle L. Price in New York; Russ Bynum in Savannah, Georgia, and Hannah Schoenbaum in Salt Lake City contributed to this report.
A man runs past burning cars following an Israeli airstrike in the southern port city of Sidon, Lebanon, Wednesday, June 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)
People take shelter as air raid sirens warn of incoming Iranian missiles in Ramat Gan, Israel, Monday, June 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
A projectile streaks through the sky over central Israel during an Iranian missile attack, Sunday, June 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
A cleric checks his cell phone on stage in front of a screen displaying portraits of the late Iranian revolutionary founder Ayatollah Khomeini, left, late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, center, and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, during a pro-government gathering in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, June 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
A woman walks past a mural depicting a U.S. aircraft carrier under missile attack in downtown Tehran, Iran, Monday, June 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
