Senate Banking Committee Approves Cordray Nomination
The Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Development voted this morning to confirm former Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray as director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The committee approved the nomination by a party-line vote of 12 to 10, with all Republican members voting against, as they have repeatedly vowed to do until the CFPB is restructured. The nomination must now come to a vote before the full Senate to complete Mr. Cordray’s confirmation. However, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has united the Republican caucus to block the nomination (until the bureau is restructured), and it is unclear when the Senate will actually take up the nomination. The CFPB was created by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and officially opened its doors on July 21, 2011, but its powers are limited until it has a Senate-confirmed director.
The Senate Committee also unanimously approved the nominations of Alan B. Krueger to be a Member of the Council of Economic Advisers; David A. Montoya to be Inspector General, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development; Cyrus Amir-Mokri to be an Assistant Secretary of the Treasury, U.S. Department of the Treasury; Patricia M. Loui to be a Member of the Board of Directors, Export-Import Bank of the United States; and Larry W. Walther to be a Member of the Board of Directors, Export-Import Bank of the United States.
