Senate Banking sets hearing for Consumer Bureau director

The Senate Banking Committee will weigh the nomination of Richard Cordray to be the first director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Thursday.

The hearing will come two weeks to the day after the CFPB officially began work.

Committee Chairman Tim Johnson (D-S.D.) said he hoped the hearing would be the first step towards a speedy confirmation of the pick.

“With next week’s hearing, I will begin the process of moving Mr. Cordray’s nomination forward to confirmation,” he said in a statement. “The CFPB opened its doors as an independent agency on July 21st, and it is off to a strong start promoting an equitable and transparent consumer financial marketplace. However, until it has a Director, the CFPB will not be able to use its full powers to protect consumers and level the playing field for community banks and credit unions.”

Democrats are likely to rally around the former Ohio attorney general in his effort to helm the new bureau, but he faces stiff opposition from Senate Republicans. A filibuster-proof bloc of GOP lawmakers have vowed to block any nominee to head the agency unless several changes are made to its operations.

Among the demands are that the director position be abolished and replaced with a board of directors. They also want to see the bureau's budget brought under the control of congressional appropriators and to allow other regulators to more easily check its power.

---