Ben Protess (DealBook/NYT)
October 6, 2011

“Richard Cordray’s bid to lead the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau moved a step forward on Thursday, as a Senate committee approved his nomination along party lines. But with Senate Republicans united against the nomination, the move was largely symbolic. Mr. Cordray, who currently leads the bureau’s enforcement division, now awaits scrutiny from the full Senate, where his nomination hopes are in doubt. Republicans have dug in against the bureau, vowing to block any nominee unless the new agency is subjected to additional oversight.  While the bureau now has authority to file lawsuits against Wall Street and inspect the books at a wide range of large banks, it will not gain some of its greatest authority over the lending industry until the Senate confirms a director. Under the Dodd-Frank Act, the bureau needs a leader before it can police many lightly regulated financial firms, including tens of thousands of payday lenders, mortgage firms and debt collectors. …‘We call on all senators to stand up for families and confirm Richard Cordray as C.F.P.B. director,’ said Lisa Donner, head of Americans for Financial Reform, an advocacy group. ‘Will you implement the law and make sure the C.F.P.B. can do its job helping people defend themselves from loan sharks big and small? Or will you block consumer protection and instead protect wrongdoing by companies that caused the financial crisis?’” Click here for more.