Watchdog Cordray to step down

Richard Cordray will step down as the head of a controversial consumer watchdog at the end of the month amid growing speculation that he will run for governor of Ohio as a Democrat.

His decision means President Donald Trump should soon get to install his own director atop the Consumer Protection Financial Bureau, a regulator set up in response to the 2008 financial crisis to police mortgages, credit cards and other financial products.

Cordray's departure gives Republican lawmakers and bankers the chance to push a deregulatory agenda at an agency they say has too much power and has burdened lenders with unnecessary red tape.

Cordray, 58, revealed his plans to leave the agency in an email to CFPB staff on Wednesday. He did not specify in the memo what he plans to do next.

Washington, D.C., lobbyists and lawmakers have been predicting for months that he would resign to run for governor in his home state.

Cordray - the CFPB's first-ever director - is leaving before his term expires in July 2018. Appointed by former President Barack Obama, his status has been in question ever since Trump's election win.