Richard Cordray, director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), says that he would serve out the remainder of his term if Mitt Romney were elected president.
In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Cordray – who became CFPB director in a controversial recess appointment on Jan. 4 – was asked if he would complete his tenure to the end of 2013 if a Republican was elected president. ‘I do plan to do that, yes,’ Cordray says.
Cordray defends President Obama's recess appointment, saying that it was necessary for the agency to function.
‘If I hadn't been appointed, we still wouldn't have a director, and it would be very hard for us to do the kind of work we're doing. I'm not really focused on that,’ he says. ‘We're focused on doing our work and trying to avoid any kind of distraction or taking our eye off the ball.’
Whether Romney would want the CFPB to continue in its current state is unclear. In May, Romney advisor Glenn Hubbard told the Wall Street Journal that Romney might follow one of two options: shut down the agency and reassign its powers to existing financial regulators, or realign its position within the federal government and make it more accountable to congressional oversight. To date, the candidate has not stated his specific plans for the agency's future.
