Menendez Warns GOP Filibuster of Cordray to Lead CFPB Will Hurt Middle Class

Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) and Democratic members of the US Senate Banking Committee today urged Senate Republicans to confirm Richard Cordray as Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). The consumer protection agency was established by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and was supported by a bi-partisan majority of the Senate and signed into law on July 21, 2010 but still doesn't have a Director. Senate Republicans have vowed to filibuster the vote to confirm the administration's nominee, Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray, unless the powers of the agency to crack down on bad financial practices are first gutted, despite the fact that no one is disputing his extraordinary qualifications for the job. "A bi-partisan majority of the Senate voted for the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform law. That means a bi-partisan majority of the Senate voted in favor of protecting consumers from the reckless financial games that led us to the brink of economic disaster and hurt the middle class. And majority should rule," said Menendez. "This is happening simply because Republicans want to protect Wall Street. This is really about whose side you're on. Wall Street has enough hired guns on K Street watching out for them. It's time consumers on Main Street had someone looking out for them too." By vowing to filibuster Cordray's nomination, Republicans are vowing to deprive the middle class of a watchdog -- an agency whose sole purpose is ...

View Count: 19 Date: December 7, 2011