Lawmakers Urge Recess Appointment for Wall Street Watchdog

Elizabeth Warren has the fire in her belly, but not to run for the U.S. Senate back home in Massachusetts.

The progressive Harvard Law professor wants to run the agency she conceived and proposed after American taxpayers had to bail out greedy, unregulated Wall Street banks: the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

"She doesn't want to run. She wants to run the agency," said a powerful ally of Warren's, laughing off the talk of her running against Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) next year.

The problem is some Republicans have already signaled that the marching orders from their Wall Street and banking industry patrons is to block her appointment, which must be confirmed by the Senate.

Now 89 lawmakers are calling on President Obama today to use the "recess appointment" to put Warren in the job -- a temporary maneuver that gets around the partisan Senate confirmation process.

"They would rather hold your appointment hostage and obstruct the process than make sure consumers have a strong advocate on their side," the letter reads.

The Wall Street watchdog agency opens its doors on July 21 and her supporters want her on the job that day. For now,  Warren, currently a Treasury Department adviser, is setting up the agency. 

Some progressives are confident Obama will act, not wanting to pull the scab off his sometimes testy relationship with the activist left, since his re-election is shaping up as a fight that will require every base vote he can find.

The Progressive Change Campaign Committee and liberal organizers have gathered another 250,000 signatures, and counting, the lawmakers said.