Obama Names New Nominee For Consumer Protection Bureau, Snubs Warren

Elizabeth Warren has been setting up the President’s Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) since last fall, but Richard Cordray, a former Ohio Attorney General, will be nominated as the agency’s new chief Monday. 

Warren, who was unpopular among Republican lawmakers, was facing an uphill battle for Senate confirmation, a likely factor in President Obama’s decision to name a new nominee.

“Richard Cordray has spent his career advocating for middle class families, from his tenure as Ohio’s Attorney General, to his most recent role as heading up the enforcement division at the CFPB and looking out for ordinary people in our financial system,” Obama said in a statement announcing his intentions to nominate Cordray. 

Obama thanked Warren, who has reportedly shown an increased interest in running for a Senate seat in her home state, for “her extraordinary work standing up the agency.”

“This agency was Elizabeth’s idea, and through sheer force of will, intelligence, and a bottomless well of energy, she has made, and will continue to make, a profound and positive difference for our country,” Obama said. 

Cordray, who has served as the head of the agency’s enforcement division since January, will not sail through his confirmation process either. A number of Senate Republicans have vowed to block any nominee up for the job, arguing that the agency’s power is overbearing. 

The CFPB will begin work on July 21.