Elizabeth Warren Unlikely to Run Consumer Protection Bureau
A senior White House official says the President will announce, in a Rose Garden ceremony early Friday afternoon, that Elizabeth Warren will be given the dual role of Assistant to the President and Special Advisor to the Secretary of the Treasury.
In that role Warren, over the next 12-18 months, will get the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau up and running, a job that will include the consolidation of several consumer protection agencies now spread across the government. The CFPB was largely Warren's idea.
But the White House says it is highly unlikely that Warren, a Harvard professor, will eventually be nominated to be director of the bureau, despite the fact that - until now -- she was the favored candidate of both the White House and key Democrats on Capitol Hill.
Sources say Warren recently made clear that she does not want the permanent job. Why not? Because Republicans - with fierce backing from the financial community - are dead-set against her getting the job. Her nomination would be expected to languish for months and during that time, White House officials say, she would have to cease operating in her interim position. So she has decided, officials say, to set up the CFPB -- and then move on, leaving the job of running it to someone else.
The White House says Warren will play an integral role in deciding who that nominee will be. The president has a list of people he's considering for the permanent position. But Warren, the officials say, is no longer on the list.
Could Warren be talked into taking the permanent job? The White House says it appears to be unlikely.
In her temporary position Warren will work out of an office at the Treasury Department for the next month or so, and will then move into the new offices of the CFPB.
