Consumer advocates are ratcheting up the pressure on Senate Republicans who vowed to block Richard Cordray’s nomination to continue leading the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).
Americans For Financial Reform (AFR), a coalition of national, state and local advocacy groups, reported that it gathered more than 160,000 signatures on a petition urging 43 GOP Senators to drop their opposition to Cordray’s nomination.
The senators vowed to block any CFPB nominee until certain changes are made to the bureau. For instance, they have called on Democrats to support legislation that would see the CFPB’s single director replaced by a five-member commission. Republicans also want the agency —currently funded by the Federal Reserve — to be brought under the Congressional appropriations process.
Republicans were further emboldened in their opposition to Cordray’s nomination by a January federal appellate court ruling that cast doubt on the legitimacy of his 2012 recess appointment and the bureau’s actions under his leadership.
“To those senators who have said they will not consider any nominee unless and until the bureau is weakened we say: It is time to change your position,” the AFR petition reads. “We need the bureau to be effective. We think it is wrong to hold up the nomination of a qualified leader, and hold hostage a law passed by Congress, signed by the president and supported by large majorities of the public, in order to further a political agenda or protect abusive lenders. It is bad for consumers, bad for responsible lenders and bad for the broader economy.”
On May 7, consumer advocates delivered the petition to Illinois Republican Sen. Mark Kirk. The Illinois Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) said the petition included signatures from over 7,000 Illinois residents.
The petition, reportedly bearing the signatures of over 5,000 Ohioans, was delivered to Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, on May 2.
Cordray is a former Ohio attorney general and Portman opted not to sign a February letter in which 42 Senate Republicans told the White House they intended to block the CFPB nomination. Instead, Portman wrote a letter to Cordray in which he urged his fellow Ohioan to support the Republicans’ proposed changes.
Representatives from Ohio PIRG didn’t give Portman much credit for his attempts to help make peace between the two sides in the nomination debate.
“Senators have a simple choice: they can bring this nomination to a vote, or they can do the bidding of the Wall Street lobbyists and shady lenders who have been trying to undermine the CFPB ever since they failed to prevent its creation,” said Tabitha Woodruff, advocate for Ohio PIRG.
A number of newspapers also backed the confirmation movement. As you might expect, some of the strongest support for Cordray has come from his home state of Ohio where the Cleveland Plain Dealer has been on the bandwagon for months. In April, Plain Dealer business columnist Sheryl Harris urged readers to contact senators and Portman in particular.
More recently, when the leaders of the Republican-controlled U.S. House Financial Services Committee refused to let Cordray testify on the CFPB’s recent activities, the Toledo Blade denounced the move as “childish” and warned that Republicans’ obstruction could backfire by promoting Cordray’s political career. Cordray has long been discussed as a possible Democratic challenger to Ohio Republican Gov. John Kasich.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette joined the chorus on May 8.
“Mr. Cordray is doing a good job in a sorely needed agency. Thousands of Americans are still getting the shaft from banks and credit card companies,” the paper wrote. “The bureau is uncovering unscrupulous practices and warning Americans before they get taken again. It’s the reason the agency was created. Republicans should get out of the way and let Mr. Cordray be confirmed for the job he’s already doing.”
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