Obama to sidestep Congress, appoint consumer bureau chief.
WASHINGTON (CNNMoney) — In a move sure to anger Republicans, President Obama is expected on Wednesday to make a recess appointment of Richard Cordray to be the first director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, sidestepping the Senate confirmation process, a senior administration official tells CNN.
Last month, the Senate failed to muster enough votes to take up confirmation of Cordray to run the consumer bureau, with all but one Republican voting against the move. At the time, President Obama hinted that was considering such a recess appointment.
The president is expected to make the official announcement at a 1:15 p.m. ET speech in Ohio, where Cordray served as attorney general.
At stake are vast new powers the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau can’t wield without a director. For example, the bureau can’t regulate financial products from non-banks, including student loan providers, debt collectors, payday lenders and check cashers.
Without a chief, the bureau also can’t regulate mortgage originators and servicers, which played a big role in the financial crisis by providing subprime mortgages to families who couldn’t afford them.
The move is sure to rattle Republicans, who have vowed since May to block confirmation of any director unless they get structural changes to the bureau, which was formed as part of the Wall Street reform law passed last year.
Republicans had been using a little-known procedure to keep the Senate in session — even as it wasn’t really conducting any business — in order to stop the president from making recess appointments.
The Constitution says neither the House nor the Senate can adjourn for more than three days without the other chamber’s consent. And since May 12, neither chamber has taken a recess.
Until now, Obama has not tried to challenge the blocking move.
Republicans say their objection to Cordray’s nomination has nothing to do with the nominee.
Instead, they want three big changes to how the bureau is overseen. They want to replace the director with a board; make the bureau ask Congress for money each year; and gain more power to overrule the bureau.
–CNN’s Adam Aigner-Treworgy contributed to this report. ? 
