CFPB director named as battle over agency's authority continues

President Barack Obama recently appointed former Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray to head the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which was created by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act last year, according to Reuters. The bureau is set to provide stronger enforcement of the federal laws and regulations governing consumer protection in the United States - including the the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act - which were previously handled by the Federal Trade Commission. However, issues raised by Republican senators in a May letter to the president that voiced objections to the authority afforded to the bureau director and called for a reduction in the agency's power remain unresolved. "I will fight any efforts to repeal or undermine the important changes that we passed," Obama said in a recent statement. Speaking on behalf of his party, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell added, "We'll insist on serious reforms to bring accountability and transparency to the agency before we consider any nominee to run it."