WASHINGTON – Democratic Senators yesterday labeled as “gamesmanship” and “hijacking the legislative process” Republican vows to block any nomination to head the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau until they get reforms to the fledgling agency’s structure.
“A vocal minority is playing games with the process and holding Mr. Cordray’s nomination hostage,” Senate Banking Committee Chairman Timothy Johnson of South Dakota said during yesterday’s hearing over former Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray’s nomination to head the consumer bureau.
But Sen. Richard Shelby, the top Republican on the panel, insisted he and 43 other Senate Republicans will continue to block any nomination to head the new agency until President Obama and Senate Democrats agree to restructure the bureau so it is led instead by a five-member board and its power is watered down. “No one person, I believe, should have such unfettered powers over the financial choices of the American people,” said the Alabama Republican.
Shelby is among 44 Republicans who signed a letter to President Obama in May insisting they will not vote to confirm a director to the new agency until their demands are met. The 44 votes would be enough to block any nomination under Senate rules that require 60 votes to overcome a filibuster and Senate confirmation is required for the director of the new agency.
But several Democrats criticized the GOP’s stance. New York Sen. Charles Schumer accused the Republican of trying to “hijack the legislative process.”
“This notion of ‘let’s wait until we get it perfect’ would have delayed the election of George Washington for decades,” said Jack Reed of Rhode Island.
Republican Bob Corker of Tennessee called the Democrats’ charges “half-truths, mis-truths and un-truths.” “I am stunned at the un-truths that have been related today,” said Corker, who insisted he was disappointed at the “rancor” expressed by Democrats.
Meantime, Cordray, the President’s default nomination after Elizabeth Warren backed out, insisted if confirmed he will do everything he can to ensure that the new agency does not add to the regulatory burden for smaller institutions. “We will not impose additional costs on community banks and credit unions,” said Cordray, who was accompanied by the chief lobbyist for the Ohio CU League and the Ohio Community Bankers Association at the hearing.
