Democrats are launching a new campaign to pressure the Senate into confirming Richard Cordray as head of the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, a watchdog over the finance industry created by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform law last year. The move comes as a grassroots movement, Occupy Wall Street, is dominating headlines with ongoing — and growing — protests in Lower Manhattan.
Republicans are blocking Cordray or any other nominee out of hand unless Democrats agree to water down the new CFPB to give Congress and other agencies greater authority to control its funding and override its decision making. The DNC is up with a new web video to promote the effort that explains the legislation and the CFPB’s role and highlights Mitt Romney’s call to repeal Dodd-Frank. In addition, Democratic officials are planning to launch state-level efforts in up to a dozen states in coming days to bolster the new campaign.
