How the CFPB tried to court JD Vance

First in The Vault: Senior officials at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau spent weeks in late 2023 trying to forge a working relationship with Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), according to records that we obtained via the Freedom of Information Act.

The CFPB, led by Director Rohit Chopra, is one of the federal government’s most polarizing financial agencies. Democrats are fiercely protective of the bureau’s mission, while Republicans and industry advocates say the CFPB has frequently overreached.

Despite that profile, the emails shed light on how the CFPB and Chopra have tried to make in-roads with Republicans like Vance, who now sits on the GOP presidential ticket as Donald Trump’s veep pick.