Sen. Elizabeth Warren and two other members of the Senate Banking Committee have spoken out against Republicans who seek to block Richard Cordray's nomination as director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
"It's fundamentally wrong to hold up a vote on Rich Cordray," said Warren at a news conference on Capitol Hill. "The president has nominated him. He appointed him during recess and has now reappointed him. Rich has proven what he can do. This agency has proven what it can do. The agency has been signed into law. We've got every piece we need, and the notion that a minority can hold up the laws of the United State by using the filibuster on an appointment is fundamentally wrong."
Warren and Sens. Jack Reed and Sherrod Brown said it was improper to effectively hold Cordray's nomination hostage in an effort to get Democrats to agree to structural changes at the agency.
"The three senators signaled they have no intention of compromising with Republicans, who are demanding that the agency's director be replaced with a 5-member commission and that it be subjected to the Congressional appropriations process. They said the agency's structure had been decided by Dodd-Frank in 2010, and they shouldn't use the nominations process to try and re-fight a legislative battle," writes American Banker's Donna Borak.
Although the Dodd-Frank Act was not supported by the majority of Republicans, Democrats were still able to change the minds of three GOP senators to approve and on sign to the legislation.
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