A separate article in the Wall Street Journal said the short list was narrowed to Raj Date, Richard Cordray and Jennifer Granholm. But Granholm already turned down the job, saying Warren deserved it, and she doesn’t work at CFPB. So it’s probably down to Cordray and Date, and in all honesty, I’m fairly sure Date will be nominated. The fact that nobody would leapfrog Warren and take the job was working to constrain the Administration’s options for a time, but once Date expressed willingness, Warren couldn’t very well say no to someone she hired.

Republicans are big fans of projection. When they’re neck-deep in conflicts of interest, they like to hide it by accusing Democrats of such conflicts. When they leak stuff, they accuse Democrats. When they mismanage stuff, they accuse Democrats.

And yesterday, Darrell Issa got caught doing just that.

My wife and I recently bought a home. As if I hadn’t been persuaded earlier, the entire process convinced me of the need for a strong Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and someone strong-willed and committed to protecting consumers to run it, like Elizabeth Warren.

The White House appears finally ready to make a number of financial regulatory picks, readying nominees to replace the heads of the FDIC and the OCC, who have left or are in the process of leaving.

Darrell Issa is trying to stop House Oversight Committee Democrats from calling minority witnesses for hearings, and if successful this could become a more widespread Congressional practice.

89 House Democrats just fired off a letter to President Obama asking that he appoint Elizabeth Warren as the Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The list of names comes mostly from the Progressive Caucus but includes members of the House leadership like Budget Committee ranking member Chris Van Hollen, Education and the Workforce Committee ranking member George Miller and House Democratic Caucus Chair John Larson. Reps. Carolyn Maloney, Brad Miller and Keith Ellison, all members of the Financial Services Committee, put together the letter. They specifically stated that Warren should be appointed by “recess appointment if necessary.”

Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA), the ranking member on the House Financial Services Committee, thinks that the Republican efforts to both block any appointment for the Directorship of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and to now block recess appointments so a Director cannot be installed, comprises an “outrageous abuse of the Constitution,” and must mean that the “Republicans are completely afraid of Elizabeth Warren,” who is currently setting up the bureau, and who is the leading candidate to take it over.

Elizabeth Warren faces a House Financial Services Subcommittee today. The hearing is called “Who’s Watching the Watchmen? Oversight of the Consumer Protection Bureau.” It’s chaired by Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC), one of the more ideological conservatives in Congress, who has been at the forefront of the move to gut the CFPB before it gets off the ground. And in his opening remarks today, he basically accused Warren of lying.

Congress and the President, fearful of a backlash from polluters, are forcing EPA to postpone needed rules to protect public health, leading to avoidable illnesses and deaths while also increasing the budget requirements for public health programs like Medicaid, SCHIP, and Medicare.

It’s possible that this is just an illusion of investigation from the Department of Justice. But with Levin continuing to tell the press that there will be an indictment, it raises the stakes for DOJ. It makes it harder for them to let it go, although that’s certainly still possible.