President Obama will nominate Mary Jo White, a former U.S. attorney, to head the Securities and Exchange Commission, according to a White House spokesman.
Ms. White served during the Clinton administration as U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, specializing in white collar crime.
The nomination may not be well received, if the opinion of Boston University School of Law Professor Cornelius Hurley gathers steam. According to Richard Taffe, with Boston University’s Public Affairs office, Mr. Hurley — who is also a former counsel to the Federal Board of Governors — says Ms. White’s appointment to chair “plays to the commission’s function as an enforcer as opposed to a supervisor. Her appointment presages a new era of muscular enforcement, [and] time will tell whether that comes at the expense of the commission’s equally critical oversight responsibilities.”
Mr. Obama is expected to make the nomination announcement Thursday afternoon, according to The Associated Press.
At the same time, Mr. Obama will also re-nominate Richard Cordray to direct the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Mr. Cordray has served in that capacity since January 2012, after Mr. Obama made a much-contested recession appointment.
The Associated Press says Mr. Obama will highlight an aggressive enforcement plan for Wall Street regulations he approved during his first term when he speaks at 2:30 p.m.
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
• Susan Crabtree can be reached at scrabtree@washingtontimes.com.
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