WASHINGTON The Senate Banking Committee is expected to hold a hearing next week on the controversial nomination of Richard Cordray to a full, five-year term as director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau even as Republican members of the committee continue to oppose the nomination.
The scheduling of a hearing is believed to signal that a deal may be in the offing that would satisfy demands from Republican senators that President Obama and Senate Democrats agree to structural changes to the CFPB, among them that a single director be replaced by a multi-person board, such as at NCUA or other financial regulatory agencies.
Cordray’s nomination is expected to be paired with that of Mary Jo White to be chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission.
President Obama named Cordray as an abbreviated recess appointee last year after Senate Republicans refused to vote on his or any other CFPB nominee until the president agreed to their demands. As a result, Cordray’s appointment is scheduled to expire at the end of this year unless the Senate confirms him to a full term.
Cordray, a former Ohio Attorney General, is said to be considering a run for his state’s governor’s office if he cannot win confirmation to the CFPB post.
