Geithner: Elizabeth Warren Would Be Strong Consumer Chief -- as Would Others

Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner has nothing but good things to say these days about Elizabeth Warren, the consumer heroine liberals want to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau created under the new financial reform law.

Geithner has been widely reported to have reservations about Warren, a Harvard law professor and financial watchdog who proposed the consumer agency in 2007. He said Thursday that "she would be a very strong leader" of the new bureau, but made clear there are other good candidates and said twice that the decision lies with President Obama.

Warren has "enormous credibility," Geithner said at a Christian Science Monitor breakfast, not just because she was the "original inspiration" for the new bureau but also because "at a very early stage" she pointed out problems in the mortgage market that were a major factor in the near-collapse of the economy.

"Did I hear you endorse Warren?" asked Jonathan Karl of ABC.

"You heard me praise her," Geithner replied. He said the White House floated two good candidates last week -- Michael Barr, assistant treasury secretary for financial institutions, and Gene Kimmelman, a former lobbyist for Consumers Union who is now chief counsel for competition policy at the Justice Department. Geithner said he's heard other interesting names, but declined to disclose them.

Warren is chairwoman of the Congressional Oversight Panel, a watchdog agency that oversees financial markets and regulations. Geithner said she has proven very good at the "brutal" scrutiny the financial system needs in order to work well.

The flip side of that coin is that Wall Street is wary of Warren, and so are conservatives in the Senate. Sen. Chris Dodd, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, told NPR last week that he doesn't know if Warren is confirmable.

The liberal left has turned Warren into a litmus test for the Obama administration. The Progressive Change Campaign Committee has collected more than 164,000 signatures on a petition headlined "Let Elizabeth Warren Police Wall Street."

One questioner Thursday said people believe the playing field is tilted toward Wall Street, the banks and the rich, and said Warren's appointment would be interpreted as a win for "the little guy." He asked if that is "of value to you."

"That is the third Elizabeth Warren question," Geithner said, only half-joking. "Of course I appreciate that. . . . Of course I recognize that." Click play below for a video clip: