GOP lawmakers nix automatic appointment of Elizabeth Warren to head consumer agency
So, Republicans made it clear yesterday that they really don’t want Elizabeth Warren to head the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which she is helping to create and was her idea in the first place.
Along with other measures intended to weaken the not-yet-functioning agency, which was established thanks to the Dodd-Frank financial reform law passed last year, GOP lawmakers shot down a proposed amendment would have required Congress to name Warren the head of the bureau once she finishes the job of creating it and getting it running by July. Color us surprised.
“This debate is clearly about Elizabeth Warren, so let’s make it about her,” said Rep. Carolyn Maloney, the top Democrat on the Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit Subcommittee, who introduced the amendment.
That doesn’t mean we’re giving up. Public Citizen still continues to back the Harvard professor-turned Treasury Department special adviser because we know she’ll take Wall Street to task when it comes to protecting consumers. We’ve petitioned President Barack Obama to nominate her to the post, and have collected more than 26,000 signatures in support. (Add yours here.) While you’re at it, check out our other work on financial reform.
Additionally, Congress must not weaken this critical agency, which is the public’s defense against the abusive practices on Wall Street that crashed the economy. Public Citizen continues to advocate for the people and take on those expensive, slick lobbyists that Wall Street sends to the halls of power.