US President Donald Trump has nominated former Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) official Brian Johnson to become the agency's next director.

The White House sent Johnson's nomination to the Senate on Wednesday. If confirmed, he will lead the consumer watchdog for a five-year term and replace acting CFPB director Russell Vought.

Johnson previously served as the CFPB's deputy director during Trump's first administration. He currently works as a senior executive at Capital One and previously held a role at consultancy Patomak Global Partners.

The CFPB oversees consumer protection across financial services, including banking, lending, payments and credit products. It was created following the 2008 financial crisis and claims to have secured more than $21 billion in consumer relief through enforcement actions, compensation and debt cancellation.

Last year, Trump tried to shut down the agency and the White House is now moving to reduce it to a fraction of its former size, according to a report by Reuters.

Johnson has been critical of the CFPB and has testified before US Congress in favour of efforts to end the agency's financial independence and reduce its funding, according to the news outlet.

Senator Elizabeth Warren, ranking member of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee and one of the architects of the CFPB, said: "Starting in August, Russ Vought can no longer legally serve as Donald Trump’s hatchet man at the CFPB. So here comes the next hatchet man to try to finish the job and gut an agency that has returned more than $21 billion to cheated consumers."

She added: "Trump promised to lower costs on 'day one.' Instead he is doing everything in his power to reward the big banks and giant corporations that scam Americans out of their hard-earned money."

The nomination will now be put to the Senate, where lawmakers will consider Johnson's suitability to lead one of the most influential regulators in US financial services.

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