Did Trump's Pick for Consumer Agency Help 'Lock Immigrant Children Up in Cages'? Senators Demand Answers

Kathy Kraninger—the White House budget official and Mick Mulvaney "flunky" who President Donald Trump nominated to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau—has zero relevant experience in financial regulation or consumer protection.

"The American people deserve to know whether Kathy Kraninger helped lock immigrant children up in cages before Donald Trump gives her a big promotion to lead the consumer watchdog."
—Sens. Elizabeth Warren

"And it gets even worse," Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) declared in a tweet on Tuesday. "Kraninger helps oversee the agencies that are ripping kids from their parents."

In a letter sent to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Tuesday, Warren joined Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) in demanding that Kraninger hand over all documents related to her role in overseeing the federal agencies like the Justice Department and the Department of Homeland Security, which are currently carrying out Trump's inhumane family separation policy.

Warren and Brown also demanded that Kraninger turn over any email communications with Trump's senior adviser Stephen Miller—the administration's most fervent advocate for the family separation policy—and other White House officials related to its so-called "zero tolerance" immigration agenda.

"We write seeking documents and other information about your role in the development and implementation of the Trump administration's 'zero tolerance policy,' which has led the administration to separate thousands of young children from their parents," the senators write, demanding the documents before Kraninger's confirmation hearing, which has yet to be officially scheduled.

"The American people deserve to know whether Kathy Kraninger helped lock immigrant children up in cages before Donald Trump gives her a big promotion to lead the consumer watchdog," Warren wrote in an email to supporters on Tuesday.

Noting that Kraninger prepared the budget requests of seven separate government agencies and provided "policy and management guidance" in her capacity as Program Associate Director for General Government Programs at the OMB, Warren and Brown demanded:

• A complete description of any role you may have played in OMB budgetary or policy decisions, analyses, or recommendations related to DOJ's zero-tolerance policy, DHS's implementation of the changes stemming from the policy, and the separation of children from their parents who were detained under such policy.
• All emails and other documents related to your communications with DOJ officials related to the development and implementation of DOJ's zero tolerance policy and the separation of children from their parents who were detained under the DOJ zero-tolerance policy.
• All emails and other documents related to your communications with DHS officials regarding the DHS role in separation of children from their parents who were detained under the DOJ zero-tolerance policy.
• All emails and other documents related to your communications with White House officials, including senior adviser to the president Stephen Miller, related to the development of the zero-tolerance policy. 
• Any final or draft OMB analyses, recommendations, or budgetary or policy decisions in which you were involved related to the DOJ zero-tolerance policy, or related to DHS role in this policy.
• All emails and other documents relating to your involvement with the zero-tolerance policy, including the approval of new or reprogrammed funds for: the construction or acquisition of new detention facilities; salaries; travel and overtime for DHS personnel; resources for additional criminal or immigration enforcement; or travel costs for repatriation.