Because a Warren appointment can expect to be filibustered by Republicans in the Senate, which must confirm it, Obama instead has made her a White House special adviser. But her job is to set up the new agency, which she first proposed in a 2007 article.
Warren's unappointed status had Republicans arguing that she shouldn't have participated in talks among state attorneys general, the Justice Department, federal banking regulators, and large banks to settle charges that state laws were broken by mortgage lenders handling foreclosures.
Warren pointed out that she was invited to attend the talks by Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, the Justice Department, and other participants. She also said the CFPB wasn't involved in negotiations, but had provided advice, as it was asked to do.
Warren should know by now that it isn't so much her that upsets her critics as it is her brainchild, the CFPB, which they want to scuttle. They don't want the agency to have what it needs to be effective - independence.
The Dodd-Frank Act, which created the CFPB, protects it from congressional interference by funding it through fees paid to the Federal Reserve. It won't be under the Fed's authority, but that doesn't mean the CFPB will lack a monitor. Its decisions can be rejected by the also new Financial Stability Oversight Council.
The CFPB also must submit annual reports to Congress and undergo annual audits by the Government Accountability Office. Of course, none of that satisfies Rep. Spencer Bachus (R., Ala.), chairman of the House Financial Services Committee. He wants the CFPB under the thumb of Congress, claiming it is too powerful.
Bachus said he plans to introduce legislation that would replace the CFPB's single director with a five-member bipartisan commission. Hmmm, five's an odd number, wonder how many Republicans Bachus would have on that panel? He and the other members of Congress trying to sink the CFPB before it is even launched need to cease.
It's true, the CFPB will have great power, with the authority to write lending rules pertaining to mortgages, credit cards, payday loans, check-cashing services, and other financing vehicles. But it's about time consumers had a real friend to keep them from being exploited by these lenders.
Warren herself put it well when she told Bachus' committee, "We need a cop on the beat that American families can count on." She's right. The free-marketeers have had their way. It's time for sensible regulation that puts consumers above lenders.
