Richard Cordray’s nomination to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was approved today by the U.S. Senate Banking Committee. The party-line vote was the final hurdle to his confirmation attempt for the five-year term.
The 12-10 vote saw all Democrats on the panel backing Cordray, while the Republicans unanimously opposed. Even with the approval of the Banking Committee, Cordray’s second nomination cannot be settled unless Republicans and Democrats in the Senate break the stalemate that keeps them from having a full-Senate vote.
Since Cordray was nominated in 2011, Republicans have requested the CFPB be reorganized to be a commission-run agency instead of having a director at the helm. They also want a budget that is no longer drawn from the Federal Reserve, but subjected to congressional appropriations.
Democrats claim Congress deliberated about the bureau’s existing construction when Dodd-Frank was passed in 2010. They feel that the former Ohio attorney general should keep the position since he’s done well at it for more than a year.
President Barack Obama nominated Cordray for the position on Jan. 24 during a recess during which 60 to 100 members must agree to allow a vote to go to the floor; the move bypassed Republican disapproval. Unless their requests are granted, more than 40 GOP senators vowed to oppose a floor vote on any CFPB director nominee.
