Cordray to Fall “Victim to a Republican Mugging,” Says Rep. Barney Frank

September 2, 2011

Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA), co-author of last summer’s sweeping financial reform bill, published an op-ed in the Washington Post that blasted Republican Senators for refusing to weigh President Obama’s pick for director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, former Ohio AG Richard Cordray.

“They will do that by blatantly distorting the Constitution, substituting a refusal to allow the constitutionally mandated nomination process for the legislative process in which they simply do not have the votes to accomplish what they want,” Frank wrote. “Cordray is just the latest capable, dedicated public servant to fall victim to a Republican mugging.”

In the op-ed, Frank refers to a letter written by 44 GOP lawmakers who vow not to consider any CFPB nominee until changes are made to the bureau’s leadership structure and regulatory authority.

“They will not confirm anyone until the Senate majority reverses itself to once again put bank regulators in a position to overrule virtually all of the policies that would be set by the consumer agency,” Frank continues. “The president is being told that the price of having a nominee confirmed is reversing himself on a major policy initiative that has already been enacted.”

Other “victims” Frank names in the op-ed are North Carolina banking commissioner Joseph Smith and Fed nominee Peter Diamond.

“Cordray’s record as attorney general of Ohio puts him in a small group of people able to act effectively to deal with the mortgage crisis,” Frank asserts. “No one has raised any questions about his intelligence, integrity or dedication.”

Click here to read Frank’s full Washington Post op-ed.


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