Who Will Lead Consumer Bureau?

The law may be nearly signed, but debate about financial regulatory reform is far from over. An battle is emerging over who will lead the newly mandated Consumer Protection Bureau, with early favorite Elizabeth Warren gaining support from consumer groups. The Harvard Law professor and head of the bank bailout oversight panel received a big boost Monday, as Americans for Financial Reform, an alliance of more than 250 organizations that had pushed for the financial reform legislation, endorsed her to lead the new bureau. Despite the show of support, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner suggested last week that he would oppose Warren’s nomination—and Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT), a main architect of the financial reform law, said he had doubts that she could be confirmed by the Senate.