WASHINGTON, D.C. -

An hour after President Joe Biden took the oath of office on Wednesday, Kathleen Kraninger resigned as director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Kraninger said in a post on Twitter along with her resignation letter: “As requested by the Biden administration, today I resigned as director of the CFPB. I am proud of all that we accomplished on behalf of consumers. It has been an honor to lead the agency during these challenging times.”

In her letter, Kraninger went on to say, “It has been my honor to serve the American people for over 20 years, and my privilege to do so alongside the many career and political civil servants who put country over self. As I testified during my confirmation hearing, throughout my career, I have focused on implementing common-sense solutions to complex problems and delivering real value for the American people.

“Over the past two years, that is precisely what I have done — with the law as my guide, with the support of the dedicated CFPB staff, and in partnership with the many stakeholders who join in the bureau’s mission ‘to ensure all consumers have access to markets for consumer financial products and services … that are fair, transparent and competitive.”

The nearly six-month, politically divided slog to confirm Kraninger as the next director of the CFPB reached a highly partisan finale in December 2018. The Senate with its slight Republican majority at that time voted 50-49 to install Kraninger as CFPB director, replacing acting director Mick Mulvaney, who was put in the position by then-President Donald Trump.

Dan Berger, president and chief executive officer of the National Association of Federally-Insured Credit Unions (NAFCU) issued this statement after Kraninger resigned.

“NAFCU thanks director Kraninger for her leadership at the CFPB and commitment to strengthening the financial services system,” Berger said. “We appreciate her receptiveness to hearing credit unions' perspective during her tenure, taking several of our concerns into consideration in the bureau's regulatory efforts, and support for industry's mission to provide safe, affordable financial products and services to its 123 million members. We will continue to work closely with the bureau as credit unions' voice at the federal level.”

Earlier this week, Biden nominated one of the current commissioners at the Federal Trade Commission, Rohit Chopra, to be the next CFPB director. Kraninger’s resignation might make the leadership change happen faster, but it reinforces a point of caution from Richard Hunt, president and chief executive officer of the Consumer Bankers Association

“CBA commends commissioner Chopra on his nomination to become the CFPB‘s third director. We look forward to hearing his views on implementing fair, long-lasting and balanced consumer protection laws,” Hunt said in a statement.

“The CFPB — as originally envisioned by Congressional leaders and Senator (Elizabeth) Warren — should be an independent agency, free of presidential politics and an advocate for consumers, which requires a consistent, sustainable set of rules allowing all financial institutions to operate on a level playing field in a modern marketplace,” he continued.

“While the Supreme Court ruled the president could replace the bureau’s director ‘at will,’ it did not mandate such, and CBA does not believe it is in the best interest of consumers to have a new director with each change in administration. This whip saw effect will stifle innovation and prevent consistent regulations,” Hunt went on to say.

Hudson Cook partner Lucy Morris collaborated with Chopra when both worked at the CFPB at its inception in 2010. In this commentary posted on the law firm’s website this week, Morris offered this assessment.

“Chopra is a smart, articulate, and strong consumer advocate who will be well received by the bureau’s staff and consumer advocates,” Morris said. “I anticipate that he will be at least as aggressive as former director (Richard) Cordray, if not more, in seeking to expansively use the bureau’s tools, including law enforcement and rulemaking.”

And soon after Kraninger made her resignation public, Mike Litt, the consumer campaign director of U.S. PIRG, the federation of state Public Interest Research Groups, looked ahead to Chopra leading the CFPB.

“With Kathy Kraninger’s departure, the CFPB can immediately return to performing its one job: protecting consumers,” Litt said in a statement. “President Biden’s nominee to direct the bureau, Rohit Chopra, is just the person to right the course, investigate financial wrongdoers and put more money back in the pockets of Americans.”