GOP Senators Vow To Block Obama Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Nominee Richard Cordray

WASHINGTON — Renewing a 3-year-old fight over bank oversight, Senate Republicans said Friday they will oppose President Barack Obama's nominee to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau unless the office created after the 2008 Wall Street financial meltdown is significantly changed.

Obama has renominated bureau director Richard Cordray, who had been named in a recess appointment last year.

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell and 42 other GOP senators sent a letter Friday to Obama saying the consumer office has little accountability to Congress and wields too much regulatory authority. They said they will oppose any nominee, no matter his or her party affiliation.

"Far too much power is vested in the sole CFPB director without any meaningful checks and balances," the letter said.

The letter represents the most direct threat to an Obama nomination this year. With unified Republican opposition, Democrats would be unable to get the necessary 60 votes to overcome procedural obstacles to confirm a nominee. Two Republicans, Sens. Rob Portman of Ohio and Bob Corker of Tennessee, did not sign the letter.

White House press secretary Jay Carney said: "It is most unfortunate that a minority of the U.S. Senate continues to oppose implementation of Wall Street reform that was designed entirely to protect the American taxpayer from the kind of crisis that we saw engendered by the class of our financial sector in 2007 and 2008."

Cordray, a former Ohio attorney general, faced the same opposition when Obama nominated him for the job in 2011. His Jan. 4, 2012, recess appointment is now under court challenge. Obama appointed Cordray on the same day he placed three members on the National Labor Relations Board whose appointments were ruled unconstitutional by a federal appeals court last month. A ruling on Cordray's recess appointment is pending.

The Consumer Financial Protection Board was a key feature of the overhaul of financial regulations that Congress approved and Obama signed in 2010. Republicans, however, objected to the law in general and to the consumer office in particular.

They have demanded that a bipartisan board of directors oversee the office and that it be subject to annual congressional appropriations instead of direct funding from the Federal Reserve.

Corker spokeswoman Laura Herzog said Corker chose not to sign the GOP letter because he is "looking at legislative options to achieve the same objective: accountability at the CFPB."

Portman on Friday sent Cordray a letter urging him to support the changes Republicans seek "so that the Senate can find a path forward on your nomination."

"You have an opportunity to stake out a reasonable position on these proposals independent of the White House," Portman wrote.

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Comments

[highercalling]

04:22 PM on 02/04/2013

This is crazy. The Republican message, in a nutshell, is this: "Weaken consumer protections or we'll use filibusters to block the executive branch from enforcing existing federal law." Our system of government simply can't work this way.

In fact, it's scandalous in its own right that Republicans are determined to prevent the CFPB from serving as a public watchdog, looking out for American consumers against financial industry excesses. It appears the GOP wants to return Wall Street oversight to the conditions that helped create the 2008 crash in the first place.

What's more, if recess appointments are off the table, it leaves the White House with no real options. Obama can't enforce federal law because the Senate minority won't let him, and he can't appoint officials to his own administration when the Senate leaves town -- exercising a power specifically given to the executive in the Constitution -- because, according to Republicans, congressional recesses no longer exist.

I realize phrases like "constitutional crises" should not be thrown around casually, but the Senate minority's strategy is untenable.

And since the White House has effectively run out of legal options, that leaves one of three possibilities: (1) a minority of the Senate, for the first time in American history, nullifies federal law by abusing filibusters; (2) a majority of the Senate reforms filibuster rules through the so-called "nuclear option"; or (3) public pressure forces the Senate minority to back down.

Something's gotta give.

[Bible Rocks]

08:01 PM on 02/02/2013

"Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell and 42 other GOP senators" most of whom will loose their seat in 2014! They don't want it to happen they just block it......WHERE IS THEIR LEGISLATION to fix this problem?

Only two other senators are reasonable in my view: Corker and Portman because they are working at "legislative options" to achieve the same objective: accountability. That is HOW to offer an alternative path forward but the rest of the 43 GOP senators will NEVER learn. They don't care how it looks that they are blocking an agency put there to protect the vulnerable. Sorry, but Bobby Jindal is correct. GOP are "the st~upid" party.

[Gladys Friday]

05:08 PM on 02/02/2013

Why are the GOP non working party still in office? We need to vote them out and get people who actually care about the country and not just blocking anything the Democrats propose. What a bunch of losers!

[nodreklaw]

10:19 AM on 02/02/2013

Any attempt to rein in abusive businesses and protect consumers (the primary basis of our economy) are immediately blocked by the GOP. Any reform/regulation of the financial sector is treated the same way. Anything they cannot stop they block and water down until it is ineffective. They are so clearly in the pockets of big business/big finance.

[BarbaraWolfer]

10:29 PM on 02/01/2013

Why don't they candidly declare blanket obstruction and opposition to wharever are President Obama's goals and at least be open and honest.

[Sharon19]

08:37 PM on 02/01/2013

I wonder how Harry Reid feels now? He had the chance for real filibuster reform and he chose to stay with his cronies! Recess appointments are PBO's only chance to keep Gov working!

[drchris1]

07:11 PM on 02/01/2013

Time for another recess appointment!

Any party that shows this degree of obstructionism, that shows no desire to make government work, should be treated with the degree of contempt it deserves.

I admire the restraint Obama has shown so far. But he won his last election by a far greater margin than W did and W was under the delusion he had political capital. Obama should start appointing his people during recess and d*mn the torpedoes.

[Huffaboutthis]

05:07 PM on 02/01/2013

Two more years of Republicans doing nothing, voting no, pretending to represent the citizens,
while only representing themselves/corporations and banks while fighting over old battle wounds, and going no where. We are tired of seeing you making noise, while so ever quietly trying to take away out rights in the States. You might as well stay at home. We see you now. Can't wait for 2014. This is unacceptable.... Why are we providing benefits to you there, and why are you cashing those checks for doing nothing ? Republicans, the party of do nothing in DC who just wants to look and sound good. Can't be done.

[emma richmond]

03:51 PM on 02/01/2013

THESE GUYS ARE NOTHING BUT TALIBAN and TERRORIST, they are not AMERICANS, all they have done been OBSTRUCTIONIST.

[art69z]

09:51 AM on 02/02/2013

Actually, the founding fathers had great vision. They knew that knee jerk reactions by government officials, would be a receipe for disaster.. That is why we have committees, focus goups, and the 3 branches of government as a "Check and Balance" for power. Look how slow Senator Reid has become, the Senate hasn't proposed a budget, even though it is required by law. April 28th 2013, will be 4 years since Harry Reid brought a proposed budget to the Senate floor for debate and vote. The house has proposed and passed their budget as required, just waiting on the Senate for their budget. Don't hold your breath.

[nuagewriter]

02:34 PM on 02/01/2013

I have a suggestion for the Obama Administration on how to handle future Cabinet nominations. Since you know the Republicans are going to try and block any and all Cabinet Posts they don't agree with, since you know the hearings are nothing but sound bite opportunities to kiss the ring of the Tea Party, and since you know you have enough Democratic votes to approve the nomination, just don't show up for the interrogations, er I mean hearings. Don't show up to ask useless questions and give credibility to the GOP's dog-and-pony shows. The biggest problem with the Republican obstruction strategy and their never-say-die efforts to slander, besmirch, libel, humiliate, tear down, thwart, obstruct, "shuck and jive", "bob and weave", "duck-and-delay" and deter Obama and his agenda, is the so-called mainstream media's callous and cowardly capitulation to his critics. By giving credence to the right-wing attacks on the President and pretending they don't see the rank partisanship of everything the GOP does, mainstream media loses what little credibility they have left. Look at the falling ratings numbers of so-called mainstream media outlets like CNN, and even the major Networks, and you'd think they'd put two and two together. But no, they're so afraid of the right-wing, and the possibility of their organized backlash and fake outrage histronics that they'd rather lose the little credibility they have remaining after four years of capitulation to the Conservative crazies.

[schnauzergirl]

02:02 PM on 02/01/2013

"and that it be subject to annual congressional appropriations instead of direct funding from the Federal Reserve."

Of course. That way they squeeze it out of existence if their big corporate bosses don't like it trying to do any of that "consumer protecting"

[markofamerica]

02:01 PM on 02/01/2013

Just the Republicans protecting their Wall Street bosses. Even after they crashed the economy, the GOP refuses to have any meaningful regulation of the bankers. Once again the majority is being controlled by the minority. Bring back Glass-Steagull. Where's TR when you need a little trust busting?

[markofamerica]

01:53 PM on 02/01/2013

Harry Reid - this will be another notch in your belt for those counting the number of Reid filibusters after he recently sold us all out. He must of thought he was dealing with honorable people.

[Dad24]

01:53 PM on 02/01/2013

How's that filibuster reform working out Harry?

Republican obstruction continues unchanged.

[sylvia wadlington]

01:52 PM on 02/01/2013

Vote out all republicans from local, state and federal government because they are TOTALLY USELESS!!!, except for naming post offices and abusing women's rights.

[emma richmond]

03:55 PM on 02/01/2013

You are so right they are WORTHLESS, they're not even wortth the SALT that go in BREAD, all they are doing is collecting Free pay checks and Free Health Care.