The Obama administration’s lawyers have concluded that President Obama has the legal authority to name Richard Cordray head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) through a recess appointment.



According to a report in The Wall Street Journal, Democrats and Obama administration lawyers said the president has that right. The newspaper also reported that the appointment could happen as early as Wednesday, while Obama is in Ohio to give a speech on the economy.



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On Tuesday, Obama administration officials said the president was leaving open the option of a recess appointment.Republicans have been stonewalling Cordrays confirmation in the Senate while demanding changes to the CFPB. Republicans claim the way the new agency is designed makes it too powerful and too free of oversight. Republicans want a multimember board to run the bureau instead of a single director.

But Democrats and the White House have not budged on the CFPB’s current design.

