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A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that President Obama did not have the authority a year ago when he filled three recess appointments to the NLRB the same day he appointed Richard Cordray to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
January 25
WASHINGTON — Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., a member of the Senate Banking Committee, reintroduced legislation Friday to overhaul the structure of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
The GOP has been pushing several major reforms to the agency for some time, but the effort got a boost last month when a federal appeals court knocked down several recess appointments President Obama made to the National Labor Relations Board at the same time that he appointed CFPB Director Richard Cordray. The decision raises a significant amount of uncertainty for the agency surrounding Cordray's authority and a host of rules and other decisions the agency has released over the past year.
Cordray has been re-nominated as CFPB director, but at least 43 Senate Republicans are vowing that they will not confirm him or any other nominee to the position until certain changes to the agency are made, according to a letter sent to President Obama Friday.
The bill, reintroduced Friday, would address those changes sought by the GOP: the CFPB would establish a five-person commission instead of having a single director, be subjected to the appropriations process and receive more oversight from the prudential banking regulators. It was originally introduced back in 2011.
