WASHINGTON, June 10 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump on

Wednesday nominated former financial regulator Brian Johnson to

lead the federal government's top watchdog for consumer

financial protection, according to a notice from the White

House.

Johnson, currently a senior executive at Capital One,

previously served as the number two official at the U.S.

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau during Trump's first term.

In 2022, he joined the politically connected Washington

consultancy Patomak Global Partners.

Last year, Trump and senior officials sought to abolish the

agency and the White House is now moving to reduce it to a

fraction of its former size.

Regarded as an expert in consumer financial law, Johnson was

also a vocal conservative critic of the CFPB. He has testified

before the U.S. Congress in favor of efforts to end the agency's

financial independence and reduce its funding, while also

criticizing the agency's regulations and enforcement actions.

Efforts to reach Johnson on Wednesday were unsuccessful. The

Consumer Bankers Association, a principal industry lobby group,

welcomed Johnson's nomination, saying he had a "tenured

background" steeped in policy.

Republicans have accused the CFPB of being a politicized burden

on free enterprise while Democrats and agency defenders say

damaging the agency amounts to a giveaway to industry at the

expense of consumers.

The CFPB is currently led on an interim basis by Russell

Vought, President Trump's budget director, who has openly

denounced the CFPB and initially vowed to shut it down. As those

efforts have stalled in court, the administration now says it

expects to reduce the CFPB workforce substantially.

Congress created the CFPB in 2010 to protect consumers from

predatory practices in the financial services sector that also

helped underpin the 2008 financial crash.