Saying that the government needs to do more to protect consumers from the army of lobbyists and lawyers working to “water down the protections and the reforms that we passed,’’ President Obama has formally named former Ohio Attorney General Richard Corday to be the first director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
Cordray, who has been helping set up the agency for the past several months, was considered very active on consumer issues during his four years as Ohio’s attorney general before he was defeated last November.
Cordray must be confirmed by the Senate, where some Republicans have said they won’t confirm anyone unless the Obama administration agrees to structural changes in the agency.
Obama’s formal announcement in the White House Rose Garden on Monday followed a White House announcement about the nomination on Sunday.
In picking Cordray, who was a five-time “Jeopardy” champion during the 1980s, Obama bypassed Elizabeth Warren, the Harvard law professor credited with the idea for the CFPB and has been setting it up.
The CFPB, which will be an independent agency housed in the Federal Reserve, is scheduled to begin operating on Thursday.
Lobbyists for CUNA and NAFCU said they have already been working with CFPB on a range of issues and expected to have a strong working relationship with the CFPB, regardless of who is in the leadership.
Both groups said they hope to meet with Cordray soon to discuss issues of importance to credit unions.
