WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama intends to nominate former Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray to lead a new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau that was a central feature of a law that overhauled banking regulations.
Obama plans to announce the nomination formally today, the White House said in a statement Sunday. Republicans immediately threatened to block his Senate confirmation.
In choosing Cordray, Obama bypassed Elizabeth Warren, a favorite of consumer groups, who has been assembling the agency as a special adviser to the White House and to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.
The agency will officially begin its oversight and regulatory work Thursday. Its role is to be a government watchdog over mortgages, credit cards and other forms of lending.
“Richard Cordray has spent his career advocating for middle-class families, from his tenure as Ohio’s attorney general, to his most recent role as heading up the enforcement division at the CFPB and looking out for ordinary people in our financial system,” Obama said in a statement.
Warren, who is considered the architect of the consumer bureau, faced stiff Republican opposition in the Senate and would have had a difficult time winning confirmation.
The financial industry lined up against Warren. Bankers said a Warren-run agency would restrict new products just when companies are seeking to replace profits squeezed by financial rules.
Cordray, 52, is considered a Warren ally and has been working with her as director of enforcement for the agency.
