Look who’s shooting to the top of the list of likely nominees to head Washington’s new consumer financial watchdog agency — Elizabeth Warren.
Warren, who was shot down for the position last year after a lawmaker called her “unconfirmable” and who has run into a wave of resistance from Wall Street bankers, is nonetheless re-emerging as a leading candidate to be nominated to lead the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, The Post has learned.
In September, President Obama put her in charge of helping create the bureau as a special adviser but stopped short of naming her as the official director because of the politically contentious confirmation process in the Senate.
After months of ginning up support, Warren remains eager to officially lead the CFPB and is hoping to get the nod in the coming weeks. She needs a 60-vote majority in order for her nomination to pass the Senate or a special appointment by the president.
At this point, Warren may end up as the default director after at least five people approached to run the CFPB turned down the job.
Just yesterday, former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm shot down reports that she was in the running for the position and endorsed Warren.
A number of other candidates, including former assistant Treasury Secretary and University of Michigan law professor Michael Barr, Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley, Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller, Rep. Melissa Bean (D-Ill.), have declined to be considered for the job.
Sources also suggested that another potential candidate, Sarah Bloom Raskin, who was appointed to the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors in October, appears unlikely to make a switch.
Another factor working in Warren’s favor is time.
Without a director in place by July 21, the CFPB won’t be able to wield authority over many non-bank entities, including mortgage brokers and non-bank affiliated mortgage servicers.
If the 61-year-old Warren gets the nomination, it would mark a major comeback for the law professor who just last summer was deemed “unconfirmable” by then-Sen. Chris Dodd.
She was later named as assistant to President Obama and a special adviser to the Treasury on the CFPB — a move that many viewed as backdoor nomination.
Over the past several months, Warren has been working to build bridges among bankers, policy makers and lobbyists in an effort to dispel the perception she is a hard-charging opponent who is quick to pick a fight.
Big banks have been some of her harshest critics, and bank officials and politicians alike took her to task in March for what they perceived as meddling in settlement talks over the national foreclosure fiasco.
