Warren Says Republicans Want to Weaken U.S. Consumer Bureau
By Cheyenne Hopkins - Mar 12, 2013 2:43 PM ET
U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren accused Republicans of trying to weaken the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau by blocking the confirmation of its director unless lawmakers agree to change the agency’s structure.
Warren spoke at a Senate Banking Committee hearing today to consider the nomination of Richard Cordray to head the agency. Cordray faces a pledge by 43 Republican senators -- enough to prevent a floor vote -- to block his confirmation unless Democrats agree to structural changes to the bureau, created by the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act.
The changes demanded by Republicans include putting the bureau under the control of a bipartisan commission and subjecting its budget to the congressional appropriations process. The agency’s budget is now linked to the Federal Reserve.
“What I want to know is why there are agencies all over Washington whose rules are final, subject to the ordinary reviews and oversight, while CFPB is the only agency in government subject to a veto by other agencies but unlike the CFPB no one in the U.S. Senate holds up confirmation of their directors demanding that those agencies be redesigned,” Warren 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.”
The Republicans’ position hardened after a federal court ruling raised questions about the validity of President Barack Obama’s 2012 recess appointment of Cordray to direct the bureau after Republicans blocked his first nomination.
more:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-03-11/cordray-nomination-at-stalemate-as-senators-refuse-to-negotiate.html
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