Source: Kevin Lamarque/REUTERS
The
Washington Post reports today that the Obama administration is
considering appointing Raj Date, a top adviser to Elizabeth Warren, to head up the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
The White House is considering naming a senior staffer at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to lead the agency as the deadline for its launch draws near, according to a person familiar with the discussions.
Raj Date joined the bureau in February as associate director of research, markets and regulations, overseeing its work on key issues such as credit cards and mortgages. He is one of the top lieutenants to Elizabeth Warren, the Harvard law professor appointed by President Obama to set up the agency.
Reaction from various organizations and activists points out one of the key problems for the administration with any nomination. Here's Robert Borosage, president of the Institute for America's future.
Senate Republicans, eager to curry favor with the big banks, have vowed to block ANY nominee to the post. So naming Warren will entail a fight. And if the minority succeeds in blocking the nomination with a filibuster, Warren will have to be named in a recess appointment.
Hence the push to have Warren named in a recess appointment. Republican will block any nominee unless the CFPB is essentially gutted. The only way to save it would be through a recess appointment. The latest calls for that are coming from the AFL-CIO.
"By refusing to make any appointment to lead the CFPB, Senate Republicans effectively have recused themselves from having any input into whom President Obama appoints," reads an email alert to activists delivered Wednesday evening. "It's a dereliction of their constitutional duty to "advise and consent" on the president's nominees."
"Fortunately, President Obama can bypass these obstructionists by making a recess appointment.
"No matter who gets the recess appointment of President Obama, Republicans have made it clear they'll scream and holler. This reflects a sorry state in our politics—but it's also a historic opportunity to recess appoint Elizabeth Warren, who's already shown as acting director of the CFPB that she's a true champion for working families.... Urge President Obama to appoint Elizabeth Warren the next time Congress goes on recess."
Senate Republicans will probably have an answer to that, too. They'll use procedural rules to keep the Senate in session, even during recesses, to prevent an appointment of anybody. Forty-four Republican Senators have made a vow to kill the CFPB, so there is no question they'd do so. It's one more in a long list of hostages the Republicans have taken on behalf of Wall Street.