The Roundabout Strategy To Weaken Consumer Protections [View All]

Stories covering Senate gridlock border on the redundant by this point, but Republican Senators are once again arbitrarily posturing against President Obama’s nominees. The Washington Post reports that 44 Republicans sent the president a letter pledging to block whomever Obama nominates to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). At the same time, 19 Republican Senators vowed to oppose Obama's nominees to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) after the panel issued a ruling against Boeing.

When Democrats threatened to rewrite the Senate's rules at the start of the current session, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Republican Minority Leader Mitch McConnell reached an accord to begin limiting the extent of filibusters against presidential nominees. While the two sides are still on track to the half of that agreement which will reduce the total number of executive jobs that require Senate approval, the latest Republican maneuvering indicates that they are not yet content to allow the confirmation process to operate smoothly for the positions they still have the power to vet.

http://prospect.org/csnc/blogs/tapped_archive?month=05&year=2011&base_name=the_roundabout_strategy_to_wea