Democratic Members of the House Financial Services Committee released a joint letter on Thursday, Nov. 17 to Senator Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), demanding that his party agree to confirm Richard Corday’s nomination as Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).

“Mr. Cordray is eminently qualified, yet Senate Republicans have vowed not only to block his nomination, but also to block any nominee to head the CFPB,” the letter reads. “By law, the failure to confirm a director leaves the agency without its full authority to protect American families.”

In early May, 44 Republican senators vowed not to confirm a CFPB director until the authority structure of the bureau changes, which serves to block implementation of a law passed by Congress. As the bureau can only exercise its full power once it has a confirmed director, Republicans in the Senate are “actively preventing the CFPB from protecting [service members and the elderly] from predatory and unscrupulous financial products.”

“The elderly are particularly susceptible to mortgage scams and other predatory financial practices which can erode retirement savings it took a lifetime to accumulate,” the House Democrats say.

The letter mentions the appointment of Hubert “Skip” Humphrey to lead the CFPB’s Office of Older Americans, as there is “only so much that he and the CFPB can do to make sure the elderly are not targeted or preyed upon by bad actors” for as long as the bureau remains without a director.

Signed by all 27 Democratic Members of the House Financial Services Committee, the letter urges Senator McConnell and his Republican colleagues to allow the confirmation process to continue so the CFPB can make full use of its resources.

View the letter here.

Written by Alyssa Gerace