WASHINGTON The Senate Banking Committee on a straight party-line vote endorsed Richard Cordray for a full term as director of the Consumer Financial protection Bureau, setting up a showdown with Republicans who have vowed to block a vote by the full Senate.
This is the second time the committee has endorsed Cordray's nomination for a five-year term, but last year’s vote turned out to be meaningless because the Republicans successfully blocked it. That forced President Obama to seat Cordray as an abbreviated recess appointment when the Senate was ostensibly out of session.
That appointment is in question because of a recent court ruling, meaning Cordray’s term will expire at year-end unless the Republicans lift their block on the vote.
The 45 Republicans in the Senate have vowed to oppose a nomination for Cordray or anyone to head the fledgling consumer agency until President Obama and Senate Democrats agree to their demands to water-down the agency’s power by setting up a multi-person board—instead of a single director—to head to CFPB, and to give Congress direct control over its finances, which are now controlled by the Federal Reserve.
The 45 Republican votes, though a minority of the Senate’s 100 members, is enough to sustain a filibuster and thereby prevent the Democrats from holding a vote on the Cordray nomination.
This morning's vote was 12-10, with all 12 Democrats and all 10 Republicans voting together.
