Coats Opposes Unelected, Unaccountable White House Financial Czar Position

WASHINGTON, DC – Senator Dan Coats (R-Ind.) today issued the following statement regarding the nomination of former Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray to be the head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). The Senate is expected to vote on Cordray’s nomination later this week.

“The head of the CFPB has the potential to impact every American household by limiting choices for financial products and restricting the availability of credit,” Coats said. “The last thing hard-working families need is another unaccountable czar holding sway over policies that directly affect job creation and economic growth. We cannot grant a single, unelected individual so much power without effective checks and balances.”

The CFPB was created as part of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and established within the Federal Reserve System. The bureau is tasked with rulemaking, enforcement, and supervisory powers over many consumer financial products and services and the entities that sell them. Senator Coats, along with 44 other Republicans senators, signed a letter to President Obama in May, pledging to oppose any candidate to lead the bureau “until the structure of the CFPB is reformed.”

The CFPB is the only financial regulator that:

• Has a single director, who cannot be fired for policy decisions, with no board;
• Determines its own budget and spending priorities;
• Has an expansive jurisdiction that is not limited to specific entities; and
• Is not subject to an effective safety and soundness check.

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