House Republicans on Tuesday pushed Consumer FinancialProtection Bureau Director Richard Cordray to be more transparentabout the CFPB's regulatory plans and questioned whether questionssurrounding how he was appointed would impact the new agency'slegitimacy.

Rep. Patrick McHenry, who chairs the House OversightSubcommittee on TARP, Financial Services and Bailouts of Public andPrivate Programs, urged Cordray to publish the bureau's regulatoryagenda on a monthly or yearly basis so financial institutions couldknow what to expect.

Cordray declined to commit but said the bureau's goal is to beas transparent as possible and said he'd work with lawmakers to seeif he could accommodate some of their concerns.

He also reiterated his pledge to set up advisory committees ofcredit unions and community banks to help the agency understand theimpact of its regulations on those institutions.

McHenry (R-N.C.) asked Cordray what are the top items on thebureau's regulatory agenda.

Cordray said the agency's congressional mandate includescombining the disclosure forms of the Truth in Lending and Act andReal Estate Settlement Procedures Act. Draft forms already have been circulated.

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), who chairs the full committee,asked Cordray whether he has taken steps to ensure that theagency's efforts won't be in vain if there is successful litigationchallenging the constitutionality of President Obama's recess appointment of him.

Cordray said “I will give it some thought,'' but wasn't going torefrain from taking actions out of fear of an unfavorable legaldecision.

Rep. Frank Guinta (R-N.H.) asked whether the questionssurrounding his appointment might cause some financial institutionsto question the legitimacy of the agency's actions.

Cordray said now that he is in the job all that he can do is tocarry out his responsibilities in a way that is transparent andaccountable.

He declined to say whether he agreed with the comment ofElizabeth Warren, who conceived of and set up the CFPB, that it wasthe most constrained and accountable federal agency.

However, he noted that that the bureau is the only agency thatcan have its decisions overturned by another entity and it is theonly independent financial regulator that has to go to Congress ifit wants to increase its budget.

Several Democrats said the presence of Cordray at the CFPB willenable it to regulate nonbank entities and level the playing fieldfor banks and credit unions.

Rep. Mike Quigley, the top Democrat on the subcommittee, saidthat “leveling the playing field, especially for community banks,''should be a top priority.

Cordray told Quigley (D-Ill.) that regulating nonbank entitieswas the first thing he did when taking office and that a morelevel playing field “would have helped community banks andcredit unions in the ruin up to the financial crisis.''

Rep. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) praised the CFPB's commitment tostreamlining regulations.

He asked if Cordray agreed with his belief that “simple andclear beats complex and confusing.'' Cordray said he did.