Lawmakers Clear CFPB’s Cordray for Full Senate Vote

In a widely expected turn of events, lawmakers seated on the ""Senate Banking Committee"":http://banking.senate.gov/public/ approved would-be ""Consumer Financial Protection Bureau"":http://www.consumerfinance.gov/ (CFPB) director Richard Cordray for a full nomination vote along strictly partisan lines. The nominee will now face a full Senate vote, where his bid will likely meet stiff Republican opposition.

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Twelve Democrats on the committee signed off on his nomination, even while their 10 Republican colleagues lined up against it.

""Today's Banking Committee vote on Richard Cordray is an important step forward for American consumers,"" ""Sen. Tim Johnson"":http://johnson.senate.gov/public/ (D-South Dakota), committee chairman, said in a ""statement"":http://banking.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Newsroom.PressReleases&ContentRecord_id=d9d510a6-c46e-c82f-11bd-f76798a1ab1c&Region_id=&Issue_id=. ""The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau needs a director, and Mr. Cordray has proven he is qualified for the job. He should be confirmed by the full Senate as soon as possible.""

He cast Republican efforts to stonewall the confirmation process as one that would prevent ""vital new protections for consumers"" and put ""community banks and credit unions at a disadvantage to their less-regulated competitors.""

Parrying any early celebrations, ""Sen. Richard Shelby"":http://shelby.senate.gov/public/ (R-Alabama), the committee's ranking member and a vocal opponent of the CFPB, released a ""separate statement"":http://shelby.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/newsreleases?ID=66ac13f9-4d8c-4e58-9033-01cf5edf5f30 calling Cordray's nomination ""premature"" and asserting his intentions for the vote.

""No nominee for the Director of the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection should receive consideration until the Democrats are ready to stop playing politics and work with us to make the Bureau accountable,"" he said, adding, ""It's their choice.""

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Reflecting the charged nature of the politics surrounding Cordray's bid, supporters and critics aligned themselves on separate battle grounds following the announcement of his nomination.

Lisa Donner, executive director of the nonprofit ""Americans for Financial Reform"":http://ourfinancialsecurity.org/, said in a ""statement"":http://ourfinancialsecurity.org/2011/10/afr-statement-cordray-nomination-markup-in-senate-banking-committee/ that ""American families want and need someone to level the playing field and prevent tricks and traps in the financial services market.""

She added a ""call on all Senators to stand up for families and confirm Richard Cordray as CFPB director. With millions of Americans out of work because of a financial crisis with abusive lending at its root and more and more demanding action in the streets, the choice is clear.

""Will you implement the law and make sure the CFPB can do its job helping people defend themselves from loan sharks big and small?"" she said. ""Or will you block consumer protection and instead protect wrongdoing by companies that caused the financial crisis?""

With a nod from the committee, Cordray is poised to enter a rough-and-tumble nomination process in the Senate, where all 44 Republican lawmakers hew close to pledge made this year to turn down any nominee for CFPB director, no matter the political affiliation.

""Republicans insist on fundamental changes"":https://themreport.com/articles/cfpb-undaunted-two-months-after-starting-2011-09-16 to the controversial federal agency, which would transfer from the ""Treasury Department"":http://www.treasury.gov/Pages/default.aspx to the ""Federal Reserve"":http://www.federalreserve.gov/ upon confirmation of a director.

""A bill passed by the GOP-controlled House"":https://themreport.com/articles/house-passes-bill-to-revamp-cfpb-2011-07-22 in July offered to swap the director for a five-member commission and augment the Financial Stability Oversight Council by requiring only a simple majority vote to override CFPB regulations.

Echoing Donner, Stephanie Cutter, a White House adviser, authored a ""blog post"":http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2011/10/06/big-vote-protect-consumers in which she accused Senate Republicans of ""standing with the financial industry and against the veterans, homeowners and middle class families that the CFPB is charged with protecting"" and said ""President Obama will fight efforts to repeal or undermine these important changes.""

The Senate will now move forward by scheduling the first confirmation hearing at a later date.