According to a report on Bloomberg, President Obama is considering nominating Raj Date, former banker and Elizabeth Warren associate as head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
Date is a former vice president for corporate strategy and development at Capital One Financial Corporation and was also a managing director in the financial institutions group at Deutsche Bank. He was hired by the CFPB in February and currently serves as the bureau's associate director for research, markets and regulations.
The consideration of Date, which the administration did not confirm to Bloomberg, provides the opportunity to bypass the potential confirmation battle expected if Warren is nominated. One on side, Date's background in the financial industry could soothe concerns of a director that is too adversarial to the industry. On the other, Date would likely be endorsed by Warren and her supporters could be bolstered that she may likely continue to have influence with the bureau.
With the CFPB set to officially launch on July 21, 2011, the president is running out of time to nominate a director and have a senate confirmation process completed. Complicating the process, a group of 44 Republican senators stated last month that they would not approve any person for the director post until bills to change leadership structure authority from a single director to a five-person commission are enacted. A confirmation would need 60 of 100 senatorial votes in order to succeed.
