President Obama appoints radical leftist as head of the powerful new Consumer Protection Agency

Sen. Gregg: Elizabeth Warren Will Encourage "Social Justice"

"My concern is that she would use the agency for the purpose of promoting social justice," Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH) said. (source: ABC's "Top Line")

Obama's appointment of her is a "de facto directorship":

Still, Republicans would have been within their rights [to filibuster her]. Can the same be said for Mr. Obama's end run of the Senate confirmation process? Senate confirmation of the bureau's director was one of the few checks Congress built into an office that otherwise will be very powerful and independent. Nevertheless, the statute establishing the bureau gives Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner interim authority in the absence of a permanent director, at least until July 21 -- when the bureau officially absorbs and consolidates various federal agencies' consumer-protection functions. And, under the arrangement the president outlined, Ms. Warren will work for Mr. Geithner. Of course, she'll also be on the White House staff, reporting to the president -- as Mr. Geithner does. That gives her a free hand, indeed, and as Mr. Obama said Friday, she'll be advising on everything from policy to personnel to a nominee for director, which might yet be Elizabeth Warren. Only actual rule-making will have to wait, for now.

Mr. Obama would have been better off picking a more confirmable candidate, as some senators from his own party had urged. Even a recess appointment for Ms. Warren -- which would have lasted through 2011 -- would have been preferable in terms of sticking to constitutionally prescribed processes for filling federal offices. But either move would have infuriated progressives, who still dream of a full five-year term for Ms. Warren -- and whose support Mr. Obama needs in November. For all intents and purposes, the president has created, and filled, a de facto directorship. This might have been in keeping with the letter of the laws, but not with their spirit. . . .

Some more comments on Elizabeth Warren from Stuart Varney.

More on the legality of Warren's appointment is available here.