Here’s most of the speech President Obama made today in Shaker Heights, Ohio. He announced that he would be recess-appointing Richard Cordray to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), even though the Senate is in pro forma session.
Today I’m appointing Richard as America’s consumer watchdog. That means he’ll be in charge of one thing: looking out for the best interests of American consumers. His job will be to protect families like yours from the abuses of the financial industry. His job will be to make sure you’ve got all the information you need to make important financial decisions. Right away, he’ll start working to make sure millions of Americans are treated fairly by mortgage brokers, payday lenders and debt collectors. In fact, just this week, his agency is opening up a simple, 1-800 number you can call to make sure you’re getting a fair deal on your mortgage, and hold banks and brokers accountable if you’re not.
I nominated Richard for this job last summer. And yet, for almost half a year, Republicans in the Senate have blocked his confirmation. They’ve refused to even give Richard and up-or-down vote. It’s not because he’s unqualified. There is no question that Richard is the right person for this job. He’s got support from Democrats and Republicans. A majority of Attorneys General from both parties across the country have called for Richard to be confirmed. Your local Members of Congress who are here today – they support him. He has the support of a majority in the Senate. Everyone agrees that he’s more than qualified.
The only reason Republicans in the Senate have blocked Richard is because they don’t agree with the law setting up the consumer watchdog. They want to weaken it. Well that makes no sense at all. Does anyone think the reason we got in such a financial mess was because of too much oversight? Of course not. We shouldn’t be weakening oversight and accountability. We should be strengthening it – especially when it comes to looking out for families like yours. Financial firms have armies of lobbyists in Washington looking out for their interests. It’s time someone fought for you, too.
This is a fight that Richard has been waging here in Ohio for the better part of two decades. As your Attorney General, he helped recover billions of dollars in things like pension funds on behalf of retirees, and protected consumers from dishonest lending practices. Before that, Richard was the State Treasurer, where he earned a reputation for working with folks from across the spectrum – Democrats, Republicans; bankers and consumer advocates.
Cleveland, you’ve seen the difference that Richard can make for consumers. I have too. And that’s why I want Richard to keep standing up for you – not just here in Ohio, but all across the country.
Every day that Richard waited to be confirmed was another day when millions of Americans are left unprotected. Without a Director in place, the consumer watchdog agency we’ve set up is left without the tools it needs to prevent dishonest mortgage brokers, payday lenders and debt collectors from taking advantage of consumers. That’s inexcusable. It’s wrong. And I refuse to take “no” for an answer.
I’ve said before that I will continue to look for every opportunity to work with Congress to move this country forward and create jobs. That means putting construction workers back on the job repairing our roads and bridges. That means keeping teachers in the classrooms and cops and firefighters on the streets. That means helping small businesses get ahead. These are ideas that have support from Democrats, Republicans and Independents. And I want to work with Congress to get them done.
But when Congress refuses to act and as a result hurts our economy and puts people at risk, I have an obligation as President to do what I can without them. I have an obligation to act on behalf of the American people. I will not stand by while a minority in the Senate puts party ideology ahead of the people they were elected to serve. Not when so much is at stake. Not at this make-or-break moment for the middle class.
For too long, we’ve had a financial system that stacked the deck against ordinary Americans. Banks on Wall Street played by different rules than businesses on Main Street – or a lot of community banks. Hidden fees and fine print led consumers to make financial decisions they didn’t always understand. And all that risky behavior led to an economic crisis that we’re still digging ourselves out of.
That’s why, last year, we put in place new rules of the road to make sure that a few bad apples in the financial sector can’t break the law, cheat consumers, and put our entire economy in danger. Many of these provisions are already starting to make a difference. And for the first time in history, we put in place a consumer watchdog – someone whose only job is to look out for the interests of everyday Americans.
Richard is the right man for this job. If you’re a student, his job will be to protect you from dishonest lending practices and make sure you have all the information you need on student loans. If you’re a veteran, he’ll help make sure you aren’t taken advantage of when you come home from serving our country. And if you’re a senior, he’ll help make sure you don’t lose your home or your retirement because someone saw you as an easy target.
Earlier today, I met Endia and William Eason. Endia is 91 years old, and she’s known for making some of the best pies in Cleveland. William is a former Marine who now lives in a nursing home nearby. Ten years ago, the Easons were approached by a broker who offered to help them take out loans and make some much-needed repairs to their house. The broker made everything sound easy, so the Easons agreed. But before they knew it, the broker had disappeared with their money – leaving the Easons almost $80,000 in debt and in danger of losing their home.
Endia and William Eason are good people. They worked hard, they saved their money, and they earned the right to retire with dignity. They shouldn’t have to worry about being tricked by someone trying to make a quick buck.
The Easons need someone who will stand up for them. Millions of Americans need someone who will look out for their interests. They need someone like Richard.
We know what would happen if Republicans in Congress were allowed to keep holding Richard’s nomination hostage. More of our loved ones could be tricked into making bad financial decisions. More dishonest lenders could take advantage of the most vulnerable among us. And the vast majority of financial firms who do the right thing could be undercut by those who don’t.
We can’t let that happen. Now is not the time to play politics while people’s livelihoods are at stake. Now is the time to do everything we can to protect consumers and prevent a financial crisis like the one we’ve been through from ever happening again. And that starts with letting Richard Cordray do his job.
Cleveland, I know you’re hearing a lot of promises from a lot of politicians lately. But today, you’re only going to hear one from me. As long as I have the privilege of serving as your president, I promise to do everything I can, every day, to make this country a place where hard work and responsibility mean something – where everyone can get ahead, not just those at the very top or those who know how to work the system. That’s what America has always been about. That’s what today is all about. And with the help of people like Richard, that’s the country I believe we can be once again.
Thank you, God bless you, and God bless the United States of America.
Here is how Mitch McConnell responded:
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said in a statement that Obama “has arrogantly circumvented the American people,” and he called the tactic of using a recess appointment “uncertain legal territory.”
Obama’s action “threatens the confirmation process and fundamentally endangers the Congress’s role in providing a check on the excesses of the executive branch,” McConnell said.
Here’s how Dan Pfeiffer justifies the move:
Here are the facts: The Constitution gives the President the authority to make temporary recess appointments to fill vacant positions when the Senate is in recess, a power all recent Presidents have exercised. The Senate has effectively been in recess for weeks, and is expected to remain in recess for weeks. In an overt attempt to prevent the President from exercising his authority during this period, Republican Senators insisted on using a gimmick called “pro forma” sessions, which are sessions during which no Senate business is conducted and instead one or two Senators simply gavel in and out of session in a matter of seconds. But gimmicks do not override the President’s constitutional authority to make appointments to keep the government running. Legal experts agree. In fact, the lawyers who advised President Bush on recess appointments wrote that the Senate cannot use sham “pro forma” sessions to prevent the President from exercising a constitutional power.
Because of the President’s leadership and decisive action, the American people will have a consumer watchdog fighting tooth and nail on their behalf. The President knows this is a make or break moment for the middle class and he’ll continue to build an economy that’s based on the values of fairness and shared responsibility. Today’s announcement is a critical piece to strengthen the economy and restore the economic security for the middle class and those trying to reach it. Mr. Cordray is the right man for the job and we’re pleased he’s finally in place to continue his important work.
There’s no doubt who will win the political argument here. On the legal merits, I don’t really know. I do know that the Republicans were quite open about the fact that they would not confirm anyone to head the CFPB unless the law was rewritten. That has nothing to do with the advise and consent role of the U.S. Senate. It was a procedural abuse of minority rights to deny the president a confirmation vote on any conceivable nominee.
I believe recess appointments were put in the Constitution in the days of horse and buggies because the Congress would only be in session a few months of the year and it could take a lot of time to convene everyone in an emergency. In a way, the original intent of recess appointments is now obsolete. But it also was never the intent of the Founders that the president would be denied a confirmation vote because Congress didn’t like the agency the appointee was being appointed to. Congress created this agency. If they don’t like it, they can change it. By refusing to allow the majority to act, and by denying the president the ability to fill a vital position in his administration, the Senate Republicans have done the equivalent of refusing to convene Congress after the president has asked them to reconvene. They’ve created an emergency, of sorts.
As a result, the president is justified in utilizing his power to make recess appointments. It’s a bold move, but it’s the right one.