Editor’s Note: Morning Money is a free version of POLITICO Pro Financial Services morning newsletter, which is delivered to our s each morning at 5:15 a.m. The POLITICO Pro platform combines the news you need with tools you can use to take action on the day’s biggest stories. Act on the news with POLITICO Pro. It was a long day for Rohit Chopra. The newly confirmed director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau testified for more than four hours Wednesday in his first appearance before Congress since he was sworn in Oct. 13. Chopra, who served as the agency’s first student loan ombudsman during the Obama administration, made clear he intends to reinvigorate the bureau’s enforcement activity, particularly for large financial firms, and take a closer look at Big Tech, a move underscored last week by his letter to Silicon Valley firms seeking more details on their use of consumer data. Some of the key takeaways from our colleague Katy O’Donnell: —The Chopra CFPB will target big fish: He said enforcement resources should be focused on the largest firms causing nationwide harm. “One of the things that bothers me so much is when small players break the law, they get shut down," Chopra said, "and when the large players repeatedly break the law, it feels like nothing happens." —He’s really worried about Big Tech: Asked what prompted his letter last week to firms like Apple, Facebook and Amazon, Chopra said he’s especially concerned about Big Tech taking more control of the U.S. dollar and global flow of payments. “The orders that we have issued cover a number of topics, and I’m hoping we’ll be able to use that information to report to you all, because I think safeguarding our nation’s payment system is so critical to our economy," he told lawmakers. —He’s not hot on a government-backed credit bureau: Chopra said he hasn’t given much thought at all to President Joe Biden’s campaign proposal to create a government-run reporting agency to compete with the three dominant credit reporting firms. “I don’t know how mechanically it would work,” he said. “That would be an enormous undertaking.” —CFPB will define “abusive” through case law: Chopra demurred when asked whether the bureau would issue a policy statement on what it considers “abusive” acts and practices, a definition created under the 2010 Dodd-Frank law. The issue has been a contentious one for the past decade, with many financial firms urging the bureau to draw bright lines around what activities fall under the new “abusive” standard. “I have huge, huge aspirations to create a durable jurisprudence," he said, suggesting he wants the agency to clear up confusion through case law, rather than the formal rulemaking process. MM sidebar: Your host covered Chopra and the CFPB way back when the bureau was just a newborn baby agency -- actually, before it even officially opened its doors. It’s clear from this session that what’s old is new again: Lawmakers will be focused on many of the same consumer protection issues that dominated these hearings eight or nine years ago, including the abusive standard, ability-to-repay mortgage rules, overdraft fees, payday lending and data privacy and security. This time around, however, the targets of scrutiny may more likely be in San Francisco than New York. Chopra, a former FTC commissioner, is one of a slate of progressives that Biden has tapped to run the independent regulatory agencies, including Gary Gensler at the SEC, Lina Khan at the FTC and Saule Omarova at the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. While Biden has struggled with his legislative agenda, it’s clear that his personnel choices at the financial agencies could drive big shifts in the regulatory and supervisory landscape. What’s next: Look for the CFPB director at the Senate Banking Committee this morning, where he’ll face questions about the extent to which the bureau will regulate through enforcement, and about reports that career staffers at the agency were pushed out to clear the decks for him. IT’S THURSDAY — It’s our one-week Morning-Money-versary! How are we doing? (And why are we talking in the third person?) Let us know! Also, since this works for our friends at West Wing Playbook, let’s try it again: Do you work at the CFPB? Are you in touch with bureau officials? Are you JAN SINGELMANN, CFPB chief of staff? We want to hear from you: kdavidson@politico.com, aweaver@politico.com, or DM on Twitter: @katedavidson. | 
