Elizabeth Warren came to the defense of her consumer baby.
The newbie US senator yesterday blasted Republicans’ attempts to smother the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau she conceived and nursed to life two years ago.
A Republican contingent is looking to block the confirmation of the agency’s current director, Richard Cordray, as a ploy to get Democrats to agree to change the structure of the consumer bureau, she said.
“From the way I see how other agencies are treated, I find nothing here but a filibuster attempt against Director Cordray as an attempt to weaken the consumer agency,” Warren (D-Mass.) said to the Banking Committee weighing Cordray’s confirmation.
The bureau has raised the hackles of banks and Republicans since it was included in the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act.
Even the nomination of Cordray, tapped as director in a recess appointment by President Obama, was considered controversial. Lawmakers argued that Congress was not in recess at the time of his appointment.
Washington insiders believe that it’s unlikely that Cordray, whose recess term only lasts one year and requires Senate confirmation thereafter, will pass muster. Roughly 43 senators have vowed to block his being named to the post.
CFPB changes being sought include creating a bipartisan commission similar to the Securities and Exchange Commission instead of a single leader, and subjecting the agency to congressional budget approval.
If Cordray is not confirmed, the CFPB will temporarily be headed by newly confirmed Treasury Secretary Jack Lew.