Mary Jo White will likely face questions about her work for big Wall Street clients when senators on Tuesday consider her nomination to head the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, but one lawmaker wants to huddle about a field of another sort: football.
Reuters reported that Senator David Vitter, a Louisiana Republican and big New Orleans Saints fan, plans to ask White about legal work she performed while at Debevoise & Plimpton for the National Football League in the infamous “Bountygate” scandal.
The NFL hired White to review evidence that Saints players were paid bounties from 2009-2011 to injure members of opposing teams. As the allegations unfolded last year, she told reporters the league’s basis for issuing disciplinary actions was “quite strong” and based on “multiple, independent, first-hand accounts.”
Vitter says that the evidence against the individual players was insubstantial and he is dissatisfied with White’s independent review.
“If Mary Jo’s work at the SEC is anything close to her botched work for the NFL, folks who want to protect their investments, like the victims of the Stanford Ponzi scheme, are in trouble,” said Vitter, who is not expected to block her nomination.
White and Richard Cordray, President Barack Obama’s choice to lead the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, will appear together before the Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday.
Though it will be White’s first public opportunity to discuss her background and views on financial regulation, Cordray has been the more controversial figure as the leader of the CFPB since January 2012, an interim position because Republicans have so far refused to confirm him.
Obama used a procedural maneuver known as a “recess appointment” to install him temporarily, and he re-nominated Cordray in January.
Under his tenure, the CFPB has worked on an overhaul of mortgage regulations. It has also taken on debt collectors and brought several enforcement actions related to credit-card add-on products.
Business leaders have been largely satisfied with Cordray’s leadership, and Republicans generally do not have problems with him personally.