Senate Republicans plan to block Consumer Bureau nominee

Senate Republicans plan to block Consumer Bureau nominee

Senate Republicans have told President Barack Obama they will block any nominee to lead the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) unless Democrats agree to change the agencys structure and funding.

The warning was delivered in a letter to the White House May 2, on behalf of forty-four Republican senators, led by Richard Shelby of Alabama, the top Republican on the Banking Committee. The Republican senators wrote that they want the agencys director to be replaced by a board of directors, its funding brought under congressional control and its operations subject to more oversight from other bank regulators.

No person should have the unfettered authority presently granted to the director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the senators said in the letter signed by Republicans, including Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. We believe that the Senate should not consider any nominee to be CFPB director until the CFPB is properly reformed.

The consumer bureau was conceived as part of Finance Reform to protect consumers from risky financial products that contributed to the credit crisis. NADA and dealers across the country successfully fought off a move to include dealership F&I operations under the agencys purview. The administration hasnt formally nominated a director for the consumer agency, but Harvard University law professor Elizabeth Warren is serving as an adviser to help set up the bureau and is favored by consumer organizations to head it. Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner set July 21 as the date the agency would start operations as an independent agency.

The Republican move leaves the president with the choice of missing that deadline, acceding to the demands, or going around the lawmakers by making an appointment during a congressional recess. Sen. Shelby, in a statement, said a recess appointment would undercut the Senates authority.

Senate confirmation is about accountability and giving the American people a voice in the process, Shelby said. I would hope the president wont silence the peoples voice. Two Republican senators — Scott Brown of Massachusetts and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska — didnt sign the letter. Democrats control 53 of the 100 votes in the U.S. Senate, so the 44 Republican signatures would not be sufficient to overcome objections to any nominee chosen by the president.