Congressional Oversight Panel Report today
There are a lot of interpretations about President Obama’s appointment of Elizabeth Warren as an ‘assistant to the President’ to oversee the creation and development of the Consumer Protection Agency.
Yves Smith sees this as a way to neutralize her either as a head of an agency or as an outsider evaluating the work and structure of the agency, and a lost opportunity to gain publicity for her point of view in confirmation hearings.
Others are either more neutral or more hopeful for her role with this administration.
In the Congressional Oversight Panel Reports September 16, 2010 pdf is available at the website today. I have read Elizabeth Warren has ‘recused’ herself from the current document.
This seems to be a great opportunity for Obama to change the appointment/nomination process. He should use a recess appointment to make Warren the head of the agency and, when the recess ends, formally nominate her so that the Senate confirmation “makes the appointment permanent”. The Senators (particularly the Republicans and Blue Dogs) have abused their “prerogatives” on confirmations, so why not change the process rather than leaving positions vacant for over a year. If the Senate gets all huffy, it’s easy to explain that the the appointee needs to get on the job quickly and the Senate has an opportunity to see how the appointee performs.
Does this mean the “O” is going to start playing hardball, like a P.O.T.U.S. is supposed to do?