NationalMortgageNews reports a Senate Banking Committee hearing to discuss the work regulators are doing at six different agencies to implement Dodd-Frank became embroiled in an exchange about a seventh agency not in the room. Legislators sparred over the impending vote of Richard Cordray to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). Republicans want structural changes made to the agency, while Democrats blame Republicans for refusing to allow a vote on his nomination. Sen. Richard Shelby, (R-Ala.), asked Deputy Treasury Secretary Neal Wolin if the administration is seriously interested in discussing the issue. Wolin replied, “Well, I think, Senator, what we’re very interested in is the Senate considering Richard Cordray.” Sen. Bob Corker, (R-Tenn.), leveled a charge of political game-playing at Wolin. President Obama said, during a campaign stop in Kansas, “Everyday we go without a consumer watchdog n place is another day what a student, or a senior citizen, or member of our Armed Forces could be tricked into a loan they can’t afford—something that happens all the time.”
(Graphic credit: CFPB)