Warren to be Appointed as "Special Adviser"
Boston.com reports:
WASHINGTON — President Obama plans to appoint Harvard law professor Elizabeth Warren to a Treasury Department advisory post that will allow her to help create the consumer protection bureau, a key component of the new financial regulatory overhaul, without subjecting her to an arduous Senate confirmation process, according to a Democratic official.
Warren will be an assistant to the president and a special adviser to Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner, said the official, who was briefed on the president’s plans but spoke on condition of anonymity because the official announcement has not been made. She will report directly to the president and Geithner and lead the administration’s work on the bureau.
Many consumer groups and Democrats have been pressuring Obama to nominate Warren to be the director of the bureau, a five-year term that requires Senate confirmation. Republicans, who have enough votes in the Senate to filibuster any nomination, have been aggressive in challenging Obama’s picks. Many have languished for months without a full Senate vote.
By appointing her to an advisory post, the White House avoids what had been expected to be a particularly intense proceeding, given Warren’s reputation as an anti-Wall Street reformer. It is unclear whether the appointment would preclude her eventual nomination to the director’s post.
“Given the filibuster, it would have been tough’’ to get Warren confirmed, Representative Barney Frank said in an interview last night. “Senate Republicans have been very resistant and I have to say, sadly, it’s not certain every Democrat would vote for her either.’’
