CNBC: Trump Won't Fire Cordray for Fear of Making Him a 'Martyr'

President Donald Trump hasn't fired the head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, despite his standing in the way of Trump's deregulation efforts, out of concern that it could make him a "martyr," CNBC reports.

At the signing for the bill repealing a rule on consumer arbitration, outgoing House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling said that Trump would have an easier time reversing the efforts of the bureau without its director, Richard Cordray, standing in the way.

Trump then went around the room asking about Cordray, according to multiple attendees who spoke to CNBC anonymously. These sources said that the White House, Trump included, thought that firing Cordray could lead to him becoming a "martyr" and a hero for the left.

Both Hensarling and Rep. Sean Duffy, R-Wis., called for the director's firing and offered to write letters that might help speed things along, while Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., disagreed with the two. The attendees said that although the conversation was light in tone and brief, it was also energetic.

A spokesperson for Hensarling told CNBC that the representative "doesn't comment on private Oval Office conversations, but has made no secret his desire to see Cordray gone."

The attendees note that the conversation ended "in a New York second" once White House Chief of Staff John Kelly entered and suggested that they take the conversation "offline."

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