"She represents a view, which is a view represented in the financial regulatory bill, that makes credit harder to get on Main Street, that imposes Washington decisions on local banking issues, and that would put her and the agency in charge of making millions of decisions that ought to be made by the free market or by community banks," Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) said in a statement.

Liberals were equally vociferous in her defense. The politically powerful Service Employees International Union said that Warren "understands the tremendous hardships facing families struggling to recover from the greatest economic crisis in generations. . . Elizabeth Warren was our first and only choice to start the hard work of establishing this historic watchdog for consumers and families."

Senate banking committee Chairman Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn.), while praising Warren, reiterated his claim Friday that, unless Obama sends a nominee to the Senate soon, "he could leave the entire bureau in jeopardy."

Geithner on Friday notified fellow regulators that the target date for transferring employees and consumer protection duties from other agencies is July 21, 2011, the one-year anniversary of the signing of the financial overhaul bill. That leaves Warren 10 months to get the agency up and running.

She will begin her job immediately and receive a salary of $165,300 per year, officials said, equivalent to the compensation of an undersecretary at the Treasury. She will have a staff and is expected to rapidly expand beyond the several dozen employees working on the creation of the bureau. Warren has a spacious office waiting for her inside the marbled halls of the Treasury Department. It's on the second floor, just below Geithner's office, with a view looking out to the Washington Monument.

The usually outspoken consumer advocate remained silent by Obama's side during the announcement, turning to hug and thank him after his remarks.

But on a White House blog post earlier in the day, Warren hinted that her self-imposed silence will end soon. "I am confident that I will have the tools I need to get the job done," she wrote. "The new law creates a chance to put a tough cop on the beat and provide real accountability and oversight of the consumer credit market. The time for hiding tricks and traps in the fine print is over."

dennisb@washpost.com wilsons@washpost.com

Staff writer Anne E. Kornblut contributed to this report.