President Appoints Richard Cordray To Head Consumer Agency
Media Contacts
CALPIRG applauds President Obama for this bold and important appointment
CALPIRG
Sacramento, CA— Today, President Obama will announce the recess appointment of his well-qualified nominee, Richard Cordray, to head the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The appointment bypasses Senate opponents who have pledged to block any director unless the bureau is first weakened in a manner approved by Wall Street.
“For months Wall St. has been using every trick in the book to try and derail this nomination and ultimately undermine the entire consumer bureau,” said Pedro Morillas, CALPIRG Legislative Director. “Today’s appointment is a bold and important step by the President that will allow the CFPB to get to the important work of protecting consumers.”
The confirmation of a director grants the bureau, which has been running since July, all of its new powers to protect consumers. We applaud President Obama for standing up to Wall Street and its backers on Capitol Hill on behalf of families, seniors, service members, students and other consumers who need protection from unfair financial practices.
Despite strong support from the American public, in December its Senate opponents had blocked Cordray’s confirmation on a 53-45 vote (with 60 yes votes needed) and pledged to continue their opposition to a director, any director, until the bureau was first weakened and its independence eliminated.
“Without a director, the CFPB would have remained a second-class regulator without full authority over the Wall Street banks that destroyed the economy or the payday lenders seeking to pick consumer pockets,” according to Morillas.
Opponents make the false claim that the CFPB is “unaccountable” even though its structure, independence and funding are no different than those of other bank regulators. Opponents want it killed, not changed.
Fortunately, the President’s action guarantees that the CFPB, the first federal financial regulator with only one job, protecting consumers, will have all its powers to guarantee a level financial playing field for both consumers and fair-dealing firms.”
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CALPIRG is a non-profit, non-partisan public interest advocacy group that takes on powerful interests on behalf of all Californians. On the web at www.calpirg.org.
