The Senate Banking Committee voted 13-11 along strict party lines Thursday to advance Brian Johnson's nomination to lead the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, clearing the way for a full Senate confirmation vote as Republicans race to fill out President Trump's regulatory team before the midterms.

Johnson is no stranger to the agency: he served as CFPB deputy director during Trump's first term. But he now works for Capital One, and according to committee Democrats, he remains on the bank's payroll even as he seeks to run the very watchdog created to police companies like it. That overlap has fueled sharp conflict-of-interest objections from the panel's Democrats, all of whom voted no, according to American Banker and HousingWire.

Warren leads the charge

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), the Massachusetts Democrat who conceived of the CFPB after the 2008 financial crisis and now serves as the committee's ranking member, led the opposition. She called the party-line advancement "irresponsible" and accused Republicans of using the markup to hand the financial industry a friendly regulator.

"Financial titans, massive corporations, and giant banks are smiling as they rake in the dough."

Warren argued the CFPB under Trump-aligned leadership has already meant "higher costs for consumers and corrupt giveaways to wealthy insiders," pointing to the bureau's sweeping restructuring under acting directors Russell Vought and Mark Paoletta, which has included major staffing and enforcement cuts since Trump returned to office.

Johnson, for his part, told the committee he opposes dismantling the bureau outright and would focus on enforcing the laws Congress assigned it. "Congress has assigned to it important laws to implement and execute, and my intention is to execute the law," he said, noting he appeared before senators "in my personal capacity" rather than as a Capital One representative.

He picked up backing from the mortgage industry: Mortgage Bankers Association CEO Bob Broeksmit endorsed the nomination, arguing Johnson's experience would help "modernize mortgage regulations, lower costs" and ease housing affordability pressures, a case Republicans on the panel leaned on in advancing his nomination on a straight party-line vote.

The bureau Johnson would inherit looks little like the one he left. Since Trump's return, the CFPB has seen its enforcement docket and workforce shrink dramatically under acting leadership, a retreat consumer advocates say has already left borrowers with less protection against predatory lending and junk fees.

Johnson's nomination now heads to the Senate floor, where Republicans hold the votes to confirm him without Democratic support. A floor vote has not yet been scheduled, but GOP leaders are pushing to lock in nominees before lawmakers turn fully to midterm campaigning. If confirmed, Johnson would take permanent control of an agency Warren has spent the week warning is being hollowed out from within — setting up a fight consumer groups and Senate Democrats say is far from over even after he's sworn in.