“Consumers have contacted us for help resolving specific problems they have experienced with consumer financial products and services, ranging from improper charges on credit cards to mortgage payments that were wrongly applied,” he wrote in prepared testimony, adding that the consumer response operation has helped return millions of dollars to consumers.
He’ll also talk about how the agency is working to make student loans less complicated, how it is helping service members and veterans make better decisions about how to use their benefits and how it is working to help older Americans get good, clear information about their retirement finances.
“As the economy recovers, we want people to know they now have a new agency standing on their side, looking out for their interests, to help restore their confidence in the consumer financial marketplace,” he wrote.
Cordray will be introduced by Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio.
Cordray, the former Ohio Attorney General, was re-nominated in January as director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, an agency created by the Dodd-Frank law of 2010, after serving at the agency for a year. Obama used a recess appointment to appoint him last year after Republicans blocked his nomination.
So far, there’s little sign that Republicans have dropped their opposition. Earlier this year, 43 Republicans sent a letter to Obama vowing to block Cordray’s nomination unless the Obama administration modifies the bureau’s powers. Republicans specifically would like for the bureau to be governed by a five-person board rather than a director, and they would like for Congress to be able to approve the bureau’s annual budget.
Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, did not sign the GOP letter but instead, in a separate letter to Cordray, urged him “to stake out a reasonable position” on the Senate Republican requests.
“Now is the time to… lend your support to common-sense reforms to make the bureau more effective and accountable to the American people, so that the Senate can find a path forward on your nomination,” he wrote.
About the Author