Edward Mills, a financial policy analyst at FBR Capital Markets Corp. in Arlington, Virginia, said the court case has strengthened the Republican position, making a compromise more likely. He said getting Democrats to agree to a commission may be easier than subjecting the bureau to appropriations.
“If this court decision is upheld, then they will have no other choice,” Mills said. “The question is how many changes they would agree to.”
There may be more at stake for Warren and for Republican leaders, Fischer said. The controversy is a chance for Warren to make her mark in the Senate, and a chance for Republicans to put her in her place as a back-bencher.
“If I’m the Senate Republicans, I’m going to say, ‘If I back down on Elizabeth Warren, a junior senator, then I might as well turn over my vote’,” Fischer said.
Mills of FBR Capital Markets said Republicans should be cautious about overreaching. After all, it was opposition to Warren serving director of the CFPB that lead to the current standoff and Warren’s new career as Massachusetts senator.
“She’s a reminder that so far it has not been politically advantageous to block a director of CFPB,” Mills said.