Elizabeth Warren’s consumer watchdog agency may get defanged before it has a chance to bite.
Warren said two bills floating in House subcommittees — which are scheduled to be put to a vote on May 4 — will weaken the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and make it harder for the agency to protect ordinary people.
“They have introduced bills to delay, defund and defang this agency before it has a chance to help one consumer,” Warren told The Post in an interview.
One bill proposed by Rep. Spencer Bachus (D-Ala.), chairman of the Financial Services Committee, would change the bureau’s leadership from one director to a five-member board.
Some Washington insiders said the bill, known as HR 1121, is a move to undermine Warren’s powers should she be officially tapped to lead the consumer organization. President Obama has tasked Warren with putting together the new bureau but hasn’t named her its first director.
“Mr. Bachus has expressed the notion that this bill is not just about thwarting one person,” said a representative for Bachus. “But never [in the history of regulation] has one agency left so much power in one person’s hands.”
The other proposal, known as HR 1315, led by Rep. Sean Duffy (R-Wis.) would make it easier for a new oversight committee — the Financial Stability Oversight Council, which was established by sweeping Wall Street reform legislation — to overturn rules put in place by the new consumer bureau.
Over the past several days, Warren has been pounding the pavement, appearing on Jon Stewart’s “The Daily Show” and at various media outlets in New York.
“Nobody takes the consumer agency away from families without a fight — not on my watch,” Warren told the Post.
The first federal consumer agency doesn’t officially open its doors until July 21.
Although a director for the agency has yet to be named, Warren has spent the past eight months trying to build inroads and could get tapped to run it.
Warren was shot down for the position last year after a lawmaker called her “unconfirmable.” She needs a 60-vote majority in order for her nomination to pass the Senate or a special appointment by the president.
Nonetheless, she has re-emerged as the leading candidate after a number of people turned down the job.