Sen. Tim Johnson, D-S.D., along with eleven other Democratic members of the Senate Banking Committee sent a letter to Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell requesting that Republicans end their filibuster of Richard Cordray’s nomination to be director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and to allow an up-or-down vote on his confirmation.
The letter was sent after Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid filed cloture on Cordray’s nomination, which Republicans have been fighting since 2011.
“While we may continue debating how best to protect consumers, it is well past time the Senate honors its constitutional responsibilities and proceeds to an up-or-down vote on the nominee’s merits,” wrote Johnson and the other Committee members to McConnell.
The CFPB, which came into being from the Dodd-Frank Act, acts as the first federal agency solely devoted to protecting consumers from harmful, deceptive and abusive financial practices.
Since it was created, the CFPB has recovered more than $425 million for millions of American consumers, and national polls have found overwhelming bipartisan support for the agency.
