Richard Cordray | |
|---|---|
 Cordray in 2021 | |
| Chief Operating Officer ofFederal Student Aid | |
| In office May 3, 2021 – July 2024[1] | |
| President | Joe Biden |
| Preceded by | Mark Brown |
| Succeeded by | Denise L. Carter (acting) |
| 1st Director of theConsumer Financial Protection Bureau | |
| In office January 4, 2012 – November 24, 2017 | |
| President | Barack Obama Donald Trump |
| Deputy | Steve Antonakes Meredith Fuchs (acting) David Silberman (acting) Leandra English |
| Preceded by | Raj Date (special advisor) |
| Succeeded by | Kathy Kraninger |
| 49thAttorney General of Ohio | |
| In office January 8, 2009 – January 10, 2011 | |
| Governor | Ted Strickland |
| Preceded by | Nancy H. Rogers |
| Succeeded by | Mike DeWine |
| Treasurer of Ohio | |
| In office January 8, 2007 – January 7, 2009 | |
| Governor | Ted Strickland |
| Preceded by | Jennette Bradley |
| Succeeded by | Kevin Boyce |
| Treasurer ofFranklin County | |
| In office December 9, 2002 – January 8, 2007 | |
| Preceded by | Wade Steen |
| Succeeded by | Ed Leonard |
| 1stSolicitor General of Ohio | |
| In office September 19, 1993 – January 6, 1995 | |
| Governor | George Voinovich |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Succeeded by | Jeffrey Sutton |
| Member of theOhio House of Representatives from the 33rd district | |
| In office January 7, 1991 – December 31, 1992 | |
| Preceded by | Don Gilmore |
| Succeeded by | Priscilla Mead |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Richard Adams Cordray (1959-05-03)May 3, 1959 (age 66) Columbus, Ohio, U.S. |
| Party | Democratic |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 2 |
| Education | Michigan State University (BA) Brasenose College, Oxford (MA) University of Chicago (JD) |
| Website | Campaign website |
Richard Adams Cordray (born May 3, 1959) is an American lawyer and politician who served from 2021 to 2024 as COO ofFederal Student Aid in theUnited States Department of Education. From 2012 to 2017, he served as the first director of theConsumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). Before that, Cordray variously served asOhio'sattorney general,solicitor general, andtreasurer. He was theDemocratic nominee forgovernor of Ohio in2018. In April 2024, the Biden administration announced Cordray's departure after a chaotic rollout of changes to theFAFSA student aid application form.[2]
Cordray was raised nearColumbus, Ohio and attendedMichigan State University. He was subsequently aMarshall Scholar atBrasenose College, Oxford and then attended theUniversity of Chicago Law School, where he was editor-in-chief of theLaw Review. In 1987, Cordray became a five-timeJeopardy! champion.
Cordray was elected to theOhio House of Representatives in 1990. Afterredistricting, he decided to run for theUnited States House of Representatives in 1992 but was defeated. In 1993, theOhio Attorney General appointed Cordray as the firstSolicitor General of Ohio. His experience as Solicitor led to his appearance before the United States Supreme Court to argue six cases. Following Republican victories in Ohio statewide elections in 1994, Cordray left his appointed position and entered the private practice of law. While in private practice, Cordray unsuccessfully ran for Ohio Attorney General in 1998 and theUnited States Senate in 2000. He was elected Franklin County treasurer in 2002 and reelected in 2004 before being electedOhio State Treasurer in 2006.
Cordray was elected Ohio Attorney General in November 2008 to fill the remainder of the term ending in January 2011. In 2010, he lost his bid for reelection to former U.S. SenatorMike DeWine. Cordray became Director of the CFPB viarecess appointment in July 2011 and was confirmed by theSenate in 2013.[3] He left the agency in late 2017 to run forgovernor of Ohio,[4] an election he lost to DeWine.[5] In 2021, Cordray was named to head Federal Student Aid, where he oversaw student loan forgiveness for 3.6 million Americans.[6][7]
Cordray was born on May 3, 1959, inColumbus, Ohio,[8] the middle child between brothers Frank Jr. and Jim,[9] and was raised inGrove City, Ohio, where he attended public schools. AtGrove City High School, Cordray became a champion on the high school quiz showIn The Know and worked forminimum wage atMcDonald's.[9][10] He graduated from high school in 1977 as co-valedictorian of his class.[11] Cordray's first job in politics was as an intern forUnited States SenatorJohn Glenn as a junior atMichigan State University'sJames Madison College.[9] Cordray earnedPhi Beta Kappa honors and graduatedsumma cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree in legal and political theory in 1981. As aMarshall Scholar, he earned a Master of Arts with first class honors inphilosophy, politics and economics fromBrasenose College, Oxford. Cordray was a member of theOxford University Men's Basketball Team and earned aVarsity Blue in 1983.[9] At theUniversity of Chicago Law School, where he earned hisJ.D. degree with honors in 1986, Cordray served as editor-in-chief of theUniversity of Chicago Law Review.[9][12]
After starting work as alaw clerk at theU.S. Supreme Court, Cordray returned to his high school to deliver thecommencement speech for the graduating class of 1988.[11] He began his career by clerking for JudgeRobert Bork of theU.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit and for JusticesByron White andAnthony Kennedy of theSupreme Court of the United States.[9][13] After clerking for Kennedy in 1989,[14] Cordray was hired by the international law firmJones Day to work in its Cleveland office.[12]
From 1989 to at least 2000, Cordray taught various courses at theOhio State University Moritz College of Law andGeorgetown University.[9]
In 1990, Cordray ran for an Ohio State House of Representatives seat, in the 33rd district (southern and westernFranklin County), against six-term incumbent Republican Don Gilmore.[15] Unopposed for the Democratic nomination,[16] Cordray defeated Gilmore by an 18,573–11,944 (61–39%) margin.[17]
In 1991, the state Apportionment Board, controlled by a 3–2 Republican majority despite the party's 61–38 minority in the state House of Representatives,[18] redrew state legislative districts following the results of the1990 Census, in the hope of retaking control of the state House.[19] The new boundaries created nine districts each with two resident incumbent Democrats, pairing Cordray with the 22-year incumbentMike Stinziano.[20][21] Unable to be elected in another district due to a one-year residency requirement, Cordray opted not to run for reelection.[22]
Cordray ran forOhio's 15th congressional district in the1992 U.S. House of Representatives elections, and won the Democratic nomination over Bill Buckel by an 18,731–5,329 (78–22%) margin,[23] following the withdrawal of another candidate, Dave Sommer.[24][25] Cordray's platform included federal spending cuts,term limits for Congress and aline-item veto for the president.[26] WhenDeborah Pryce, then a Franklin County municipal judge, announced that she would vote to supportabortion rights,Linda Reidelbach entered the race as an independent.[27] Thus, the general election was a three-way affair, with Pryce taking aplurality of 110,390 votes (44.1%), Cordray 94,907 (37.9%) and Reidelbach 44,906 (17.9%).[28]
While in private practice in 1993, Cordray co-wrote alegal brief for theAnti-Defamation League, in a campaign supported by Ohio's attorney general, for the reinstatement of Ohio'shate crime laws. This was considered by the U.S. Supreme Court, but not ruled on because of its similarity to a previous Wisconsin ruling.[29]
In 1993, thegovernment of Ohio created the office of state solicitor general to handle the state's appellate work. The state solicitor, appointed by the Ohio attorney general, is responsible for cases that are to be argued before theOhio Supreme Court and the United States Supreme Court. Until 1998, the Solicitor worked without any support staff.[30] Cordray, who had earlier worked for a summer in the office of theUnited States solicitor general,[31] was the first Solicitor to be appointed, in September 1993.[31] He held the position until he resigned after Ohio Attorney GeneralLee Fisher was defeated byBetty Montgomery in 1994.[32][33] Cordray's subsequent cases before the Supreme Court includedWilson v. Layne (526 U.S.603 (1999)) andHanlon v. Berger (526 U.S.808 (1999)).[9] Though he lost his first case, Cordray won his second case, which garnered a substantial amount of media attention for its consideration of the constitutionality of media ride-alongs with police.[32] Other cases includedHousehold Credit Services v. Pfennig (541 U.S.232 (2004)),Brown v. Legal Foundation of Washington (538 U.S.216 (2003)),Demore v. Kim (538 U.S.510 (2003)), andGroh v. Ramirez (540 U.S.551 (2004)).
Cordray contested theKu Klux Klan's right to erect a cross at theOhio Statehouse after the state's Capitol Square Review and Advisory Board denied the Klan's request during the 1993 Christmas holiday. He argued that the symbolic meaning of the cross was different from theChristmas tree andmenorah, which the state permits. The Klan prevailed in the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on December 21, 1993, and erected a 10-foot (3 m) cross the following day.[34][35] The same board denied the Klan a permit to rally onMartin Luther King Day (January 15, 1994) due to the group's failure to pay a $15,116 bill from its Oct. 23 rally and its refusal to post a bond to cover expenses for the proposed rally.[36] When the same 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the decision to deny the 1994 permit, the state chose not to appeal.[37] The following year the Klan again applied to erect a cross for the Christmas holiday season, and the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals concurred with the prior ruling.[38] The United States Supreme Court did not agree to hear arguments on the topic until a few weeks after Cordray resigned from his solicitor general position.[39] After his resignation in 1994, Cordray represented the federal government in the U.S. Supreme Court several times: two of Cordray's appearances before were by appointment of the DemocraticBill ClintonJustice Department and two were by the RepublicanGeorge W. Bush Justice Department.[40]
Cordray was granted a ruling by the Ohio Supreme Court that lower courts could not grant astay of execution for adeath row inmate. At the same time, Fisher, Cordray's boss, sought areferendum to mandate that appeals in death penalty cases be made directly to the Supreme Court.[41] In 1994, the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals inSteffen v. Tate (39 F.3d 622 1994) limited death row inmates to a single federal appeal and said that federal courts cannot stay an execution if the case is still in a state court.[42]
In early 1996, Cordray was elected to theOhio Democratic Party Central Committee from the 15th district by a 5,472–1,718 margin over John J. Kulewicz.[43] From 1995 to 2007, Cordray was a sole practitioner and Of Counsel toKirkland & Ellis.[44]
In late 1996, Cordray, who was in private practice at the time, was a leading contender and finalist for aUnited States attorney position during the second term of theClinton administration, along withKent Markus and Sharon Zealey.[45][46] Zealey was eventually selected.[47]
During the 1998election for Ohio attorney general, Cordray ran unopposed in the Democratic primary[48] but was defeated, 62%–38%, by one-term Republican incumbentBetty Montgomery.[49][50]
Cordray entered theU.S. Senate elections in a race that began as a three-way contest for the Democratic nomination to oppose first-term Republican incumbentMike DeWine. The three-way race was unusual since the three candidates (Cordray, Rev. Marvin McMickle, andTed Celeste) were encouraged to campaign together in order to promote name recognition, conserve resources and lessen infighting.[51] Ohio Democratic party leaders believed Cordray was better suited for an Ohio Supreme Court seat and urged him to drop out of the Senate race. Despite the Ohio Democrats not endorsing any candidate in the primary election,[52] the entry of Dan Radakovich as a fourth competitor,[53] and the anticipated entry of formerMayor of Cincinnati and television personalityJerry Springer, Cordray persisted in his campaign.[54] Celeste, the younger brother of former Ohio governorDick Celeste,[55] won with 369,772 votes. He was trailed by McMickle (the only black Senate candidate in the country in 2000)[53] with 204,811 votes, Cordray with 200,157, and Radakovich with 69,002.[56]
Cordray was unopposed in the May 7, 2002, primary election for the Democratic nomination as Franklin County treasurer.[57] He defeated Republican incumbent Wade Steen, who had been appointed in May 2001 to replace Bobbie M. Hall.[58] The election was close, unofficially 131,199–128,677 (50.5%–49.5%), official margin of victory 3,232.[59][60] Cordray was the first Democrat to hold the position since 1977,[61] and he assumed office on December 9, 2002, instead of after January 1 because he was filling Hall's unexpired term.[62]
The Franklin County Republican party made no endorsement in the 2004 election,[63] but Republican Jim Timko challenged Cordray.[64] Cordray defeated him and was elected to a four-year term by a 272,593–153,625 (64%–36%) margin.[65][66]
As Franklin County treasurer Cordray focused on four major initiatives: collection of delinquent tax revenue through a tax lien certificate sale, creation of a land bank, personal finance education, and the development of a community outreach program.[67] He managed a portfolio that averaged $650 million and consistently beat its benchmarks, and set new records for delinquent tax collection in Franklin County, which was the only Ohio county with a AAAcredit rating.[68][69] Cordray also served as president of the Board of Revision and chair of the Budget Commission.[70] In 2005, he was named the national County Leader of the Year byAmerican City & County magazine.[71]
In the 2006 Democratic party primary election for Ohio treasurer, Cordray was set to faceMontgomery County Treasurer Hugh Quill,[72] but Quill withdrew before the election.[73] He defeated Republican nominee Sandra O'Brien for state treasurer in the 2006 election with 58% of the vote.[74] Cordray succeededJennette Bradley in a near-statewide sweep by the Democratic Party.[65] He noted that when he assumed statewide office, Ohio was challenged with restoring public trust after the misdeeds of formerOhio GovernorBob Taft. Of what would be required to follow Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann and his interim successor Nancy Rogers, he said, "we have been patiently rebuilding the public trust [in the state government] and I think it would be a very similar task there in the attorney general's office."[8][75]
Cordray announced his 2008 candidacy for Ohio state attorney general on June 11, 2008. Cordray was endorsed by Ohio GovernorTed Strickland.[76][77] The vacancy in the office of the attorney general was created by the May 14, 2008, resignation ofMarc Dann, who was embroiled in a sex scandal.[77][78][79] Several leading Republican party contenders such as Montgomery,Jim Petro, DeWine,Maureen O'Connor, andRob Portman declined to enter the race.[77][80] Cordray's opponents in the race wereMichael Crites (Republican), and Robert M. Owens (Independent).[81] Cordray had a large financial advantage over his opponents, with approximately 30 times as much campaign financing as Crites.[82] Crites's campaign strategies included attempts to link Cordray with Dann—an associationThe Columbus Dispatch called into question[83]—and promoting himself as having more years of prosecutorial experience.[84] Cordray asserted that he managed the state's money safely despite the turbulence of the2008 financial crisis.[85][86]
Ohio statewide offices are regularly contested every four years in themidterm election years. 2008 was aClass 2 senatorial election year, and Ohio is a state with class 1 and class 3 senators. Thus the attorney general race was the only statewide non-presidential race in the 2008 election aside from contests for two seats on the Ohio Supreme Court. Cordray defeated Crites by a vote of 2,890,953 (57%) to 1,956,252 (38%).[87]
Bank of America
In July 2009,Denny Chin, ajudge on theUnited States district court for theSouthern District of New York, granted leadplaintiff status to a group of five publicpension funds for investorclass-action lawsuits against theBank of America Corporation over itsacquisition ofMerrill Lynch & Company. The claim was that Bank of America misled investors about Merrill's financial well-being prior to the January 1, 2009 acquisition despite awareness that Merrill was headed toward a significant loss that amounted to $15.84 billion in its fourth quarter.[88] The suit also alleged that significantbonus payments were concealed.[89]
The curious dealings led to congressional hearings about why the merger commenced without any disclosures.[88] In September 2009, Cordray, on behalf of Ohio's largest public employee pension funds (State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio and the Ohio Public Employees Retirement System), the Teacher Retirement System of Texas and pension funds from Sweden and the Netherlands, filed suit alleging that Bank of America, its directors and four executives (Bank of America Chief ExecutiveKenneth Lewis, Bank of AmericaChief Financial Officer Joe Price, accounting chief Neil Cotty and former Merrill chairman and CEOJohn Thain) acted to conceal Merrill's growing losses fromshareholders voted to approve the deal the prior December.[90]
Prior to the filing the five funds had filed individual complaints, but the September filing of an amended complaint joined the actions with Cordray representing the lead plaintiff.[90] The amended complaint included details about conversations and communications between Bank of America and Merrill Lynch executives that were revealed in media reports, congressional testimony and investigations by theSecurities and Exchange Commission.[89] The filing was an attempt to recover losses endured when Bank of America's share price fell after the transaction. The damages were sought from Bank of America, individual executives, the bank'sboard of directors, including any insurers that cover directors' legal liabilities.[90] Among the specifics of the claim were that Bank of America agreed to allow Merrill Lynch to pay as much as $5.8 billion in undisclosed year-end discretionary bonuses to executives and employees and that Bank of America and Merrill Lynch executives were aware of billions of dollars in losses suffered by Merrill Lynch in the two months before the merger vote but failed to disclose them.[89]
Bid rigging case
In April 2010, Cordray reached a $1 billion settlement withAmerican International Group (AIG), one of four remaining named defendants (along withMarsh & McLennan,Hartford Financial Services andChubb Corp.), in a 2007antitrust case regarding business practices between 2001 and 2004. The settlement was divided among 26 Ohio universities, cities and schools.Zurich Financial Services settled in 2006. Cordray believes that Marsh was the organizing company for the illegal practices and noted that a trial could commence in 2011. AIG admitted no wrongdoing and said the settlement was to avoid risks and prolonged expenses.[91]
On November 2, 2010, Cordray lost his reelection bid to former U.S. senatorMike DeWine, by a vote of 1,821,414 (48%) to 1,772,728 (46%).[92]
Cordray was repeatedly mentioned as a potential2014 candidate for governor of Ohio,[93][94] but after being confirmed to a five-year term to head the CFPB, he declined to run.[95]
On December 15, 2010, Special Advisor to PresidentBarack ObamaElizabeth Warren announced that she had selected Cordray to lead the enforcement arm of the newly-createdUnited States Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), saying, "Richard Cordray has the vision and experience to help us build a team that ensures every lender in the marketplace is playing by the rules." In announcing his appointment to this position Cordray also said that he intended to once again run for statewide office in Ohio in 2014.[96][97][98] Cordray described the opportunity toThe Wall Street Journal as a chance to resume "... in many ways doing on a 50-state basis the things I cared most about as a state attorney general, with a more robust and a more comprehensive authority."[99]
On July 17, 2011, Cordray was selected as the head of the entire CFPB,[100] but his nomination was immediately in jeopardy because 44 Senate Republicans had previously vowed to derail any nominee in order to push for a decentralized structure to the organization.[101] This was part of a pattern of conflict between Republicans in the Senate and the Obama administration that had led to record numbers of blocked and failed nominations.[102][103] Four days later, SenatorRichard Shelby wrote anop-ed article forThe Wall Street Journal affirming continued opposition (that went back to a May 5 letter to the President) to a centralized structure, noting that both theSecurities Exchange Commission andFederal Deposit Insurance Corporation had executive boards and that the CFPB should be no different.[104]Politico interpreted Shelby's statements as saying that Cordray's nomination was "Dead on Arrival".[105] In October, as the nomination remained on hold, the National Association of Attorneys General endorsed Cordray.[106] On December 8, 2011, the Senate failed to secure cloture on Cordray's nomination. The final vote was 53–45, with 50 out of 51 Democrats voting for cloture, and 45 out of 47 Republicans voting against.[107][108]
On January 4, 2012, Obama gave Cordray arecess appointment to the post, bypassing the Senate, which had been holding, over the holiday recess,pro forma sessions of the Senate (gaveling in and gaveling out minutes later, without any legislative business being conducted) in order to block Obama from making a recess appointment.[109][110] The White House's position was that the Senate was effectively in recess, and therefore that Obama was empowered to make a recess appointment; this move was criticized by Republican senators, who argued that Congress had not officially been in recess, and that Obama did not have the authority to bypass Senate approval.[109][111]
The validity of the recess appointment was challenged by the courts, and in June 2014, in the decision inNLRB v. Noel Canning, the Supreme Court unanimously vacated recess appointments made while the Senate was inpro forma session, determining that the Senate was not in recess at the time of the appointments.[112][113] This decision did not affect Cordray because, almost two years after the recess appointment, he had been confirmed by the Senate.[113]
On January 24, 2013, Obama renominated Cordray as CFPB director.[114][115][116][117] Senate Republicans opposed his nomination,[114] but amid a July 2013 push by Senate Democrats to eliminate the filibuster for all executive-branch nominees, senators struck a deal to pave the way for a final, up-or-down vote. The Senate voted 71–29 on July 16, 2013, to invokecloture on Cordray's nomination,[118][119] and confirmed Cordray in a 66–34 vote that same day.[118]
Under Cordray, the CFPB grew to be a 1,600-person agency, and he was called to testify before Congress more than 40 times.[120] During his tenure, the CFPB developed new mortgage lending rules that are credited with bringing lasting stability to markets after the 2008 subprime mortgage crisis.[121] The CFPB also implemented reforms to the credit card market that lowered consumer costs and promoted transparency by reducing hidden fees and charges.[122] It imposed large fines on banks for credit card add-on fees and brought the first major enforcement action against Wells Fargo.[123] While Cordray served as director, the CFPB returned nearly $12 billion in relief for 29 million consumers.[124] In this position, he also served on the Financial Stability Oversight Council, the Board of Governors for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and as vice chair of the Financial Literacy and Education Commission.
Republican groups including American Rising Squared and CongressmanJeb Hensarling filed complaints that Cordray had violated the Hatch Act by considering a run for governor of Ohio while serving as the director of the CFPB, but theUnited States Office of Special Counsel cleared Cordray of any wrongdoing.[125]
Cordray has said that after President Trump was inaugurated, Trump andOffice of Management and Budget DirectorMick Mulvaney worked to undermine Cordray and the CFPB.[126] On November 15, 2017, Cordray announced his resignation as director of the CFPB,sparking a legal dispute over who would succeed him as acting director.[127]
On December 5, 2017, Cordray announced his candidacy forgovernor of Ohio in the2018 election.[128] He chose former U.S. RepresentativeBetty Sutton as his running mate. Cordray won the Democratic primary on May 8, 2018 with 62% of the vote, and faced Republican challenger and Ohio Attorney GeneralMike DeWine in the general election.[129] On August 1, 2018, former president Barack Obama endorsed Cordray for governor.[130] DeWine won the November 6 general election by a vote of 2,235,825 (50%) to 2,070,046 (47%).[131]
On May 3, 2021, Cordray was appointed the Department of Education's Chief Operating Officer of Federal Student Aid.[132] In this role, he led an agency of 1,400 employees that is the nation's largest provider of student financial aid.[133] Each year, FSA disburses grants, loans, and work-study funds that help over 10 million students access higher education.[133] It is also responsible for managing a portfolio of $1.6 trillion in student loan debt owed by 45 million borrowers.[134] During Cordray’s tenure, FSA made improvements to existing loan forgiveness programs that resulted in canceling $127 billion in student loan debt for 3.6 million families.[135]
Starting on March 13, 2020, the Trump administration instituted a payment pause on all FSA loans due to theCOVID-19 pandemic.[136] Debt-collection activities resumed on September 30, 2023, for 28 million student loan borrowers.[137] To protect borrowers during this transition, FSA implemented a framework to increase accountability for student loan servicers.[138] After the first three months of the return to repayment, the share of the federal portfolio making payments had returned to approximately the same level as in the month before the pandemic.[139]
During Cordray’s tenure, FSA reinvigorated various loan forgiveness programs, such as Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) andBorrower Defense to Repayment.[140] At the outset of the Biden administration, only 7,000 public servants had received loan forgiveness through PSLF, despite many more having made their payments for the statutory term of ten years, while few if any Borrower Defense claims had been approved for students who had been misled by failing schools.[141]
In 2022, President Biden announced a broad program of debt relief for student loan borrowers, and FSA spent several months building a program that eventually saw eight million applicants.[142] However, this debt relief program was enjoined by the lower federal courts and invalidated by the U.S. Supreme Court in June 2023.[143]
Despite the failure of Biden's initiative, FSA continued to grant loan forgiveness under other programs, including PSLF, Borrower Defense, Temporary and Permanent Disability, and the new SAVE plan for income-driven repayment.[144] By the end of Cordray’s tenure, FSA had canceled $175 billion in student loan debt for 4.8 million Americans.[145]
On December 30, 2023, a new version of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)was released. It was a culmination of changes approved by Congress in 2019 and 2020. The FAFSA determines eligibility for federalPell Grants and federal student loans—and, in most cases, the financial aid provided by colleges.[146]
The new version is much shorter, but its rollout was plagued by problems that created major delays for students planning to go to college. It was unavailable until the end of December—about three months later than usual—and was offline for many hours of the day during the first week of January.[147]
Since then, many families and students have experienced problems when submitting the form. FAFSA completions among high school seniors are down 36% compared with the previous class, according to the National College Attainment Network.[147]
Further problems on the back end and a last-minute change to the aid calculation meant that colleges received no FAFSA information until March, even if a student submitted the form in January. Once colleges received the data, many forms had to be reprocessed because of errors in the data.[147]
On April 26, 2024, Cordray said he would not continue in his role for another three-year term, but would stay on through June to help with the transition.[147]
On July 11, 1992,[148] Cordray married Margaret "Peggy" Cordray,[149] a law professor atCapital University Law School. The Cordrays have twins, a daughter and son, and reside nearGrove City, Ohio.[8] His father retired as an Orient Developmental Center program director forintellectually disabled residents after 43 years of service.[9] His mother, Ruth Cordray, fromDayton, Ohio,[8] died in 1980.[9][12] She was a social worker, teacher and founder of Ohio's first foster grandparent program for individuals with developmental disabilities.
Cordray carried theOlympic Flame throughFindlay, Ohio, as part of the nationwide torch relay to the1996 Summer Olympics inAtlanta, Georgia, and has served as a member of the Advisory Board for the Friends of the Homeless and part ofAl Gore's select group known as Leadership '98.[9] In 2020, Cordray wrote the bookWatchdog: How Protecting Consumers Can Save Our Families, Our Economy, and Our Democracy, about his years leading the CFPB.
Cordray is an undefeated five-time champion andTournament of Champions semifinalist onJeopardy![150][151] In 1987, he won $45,303 from the show, which he used to pay law school debt and taxes and to buy a used car.[152] The total winnings came from $40,303 in prize money during his five-contest streak and $5,000 for a first-round win in the Tournament of Champions.[153] Cordray's campaign for public office in 1990 precluded him from participating in theSuper Jeopardy! elimination tournament of champions,[154] asABC, the network that carried the tournament, had a policy against political contestants appearing on the show (excludingCelebrity Jeopardy!).[152] But he did compete in theBattle of the Decades tournament, appearing in the show aired February 5, 2014, and finishing second to aerospace consultant Tom Nosek.[155] Because of his duties as a federal employee, Cordray turned down the $5,000 prize for that appearance.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
Media related toRichard Cordray at Wikimedia Commons
| Ohio House of Representatives | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of theOhio House of Representatives from the 33rd district January 7, 1991 – December 31, 1992 | Succeeded by |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Democratic nominee forAttorney General of Ohio 1998 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Democratic nominee forTreasurer of Ohio 2006 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Democratic nominee forAttorney General of Ohio 2008,2010 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Democraticnominee forGovernor of Ohio 2018 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by Wade Steen | Treasurer ofFranklin County December 9, 2002 – January 8, 2007 | Succeeded by Ed Leonard |
| Preceded by | Treasurer of Ohio January 8, 2007 – January 7, 2009 | Succeeded by |
| Legal offices | ||
| New office | Solicitor General of Ohio September 19, 1993 – January 6, 1995 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Attorney General of Ohio January 8, 2009 – January 10, 2011 | Succeeded by |
| Government offices | ||
| Preceded by | Director of theConsumer Financial Protection Bureau January 4, 2012 – November 24, 2017 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by Mark Brown | Chief Operating Officer ofFederal Student Aid May 3, 2021 – July 2024 | Succeeded by Denise Carter Acting |
Directors of theConsumer Financial Protection Bureau | ||
|---|---|---|
| Special Advisor 2010–2012 |  | |
| Director 2012–present | ||
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
