Obama names Warren 'adviser' for bureau

WASHINGTON, Sept. 17 (UPI) -- U.S. President Obama named Harvard University Professor Elizabeth Warren his assistant to shape a new agency created to protect consumer financial interests.

Warren "is one of our country's fiercest advocates" for the middle class, Obama said Friday when introducing her.

By naming her an assistant in the White House, Obama avoids a potential showdown in the Senate if he had named her administrator of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau included in the financial regulatory reform legislation signed into law in July.

Warren will be tasked with getting the agency off the ground, have a say in who the director will be and have "direct access to me and (Treasury Secretary Tim) Geithner," Obama said.

Warren, the first to call for the creation of such a bureau, understands "a strong and growing economy begins with a strong and growing middle class," Obama said.

"For years, the financial companies spent millions of dollars on their own watchdogs," which is their right, Obama said. "From now on consumers will also have a powerful watchdog ... to stand up for their financial interests."

During Friday's regular daily briefing with reporters, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said the appointment of Warren to direct the formation of the consumer protection office is in keeping with the provisions of the financial reform legislation.

"There's a team of about 30 or 40 people at the Department of Treasury working on this," Gibb said.

"She will lead those people in setting this up. But the law specifically writes into it that the Department of Treasury is to stand this agency up -- again, pulling the strands of seven different departments and agencies into one Consumer Financial Protection Bureau."

The White House said Warren also will serve as a special adviser to Geithner.

The bureau has broad powers to prevent abusive and deceptive practices among companies issuing mortgages, credit cards and other financial instruments, and "is going to crack down on some of the worst practices" occurring in the financial services industry, Obama said.