SHAKER HEIGHTS, Ohio (AP) — Doing an end run around Republican lawmakers, President Barack Obama has installed a national consumer
watchdog on his own.

The president named Richard Cordray to be the first director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau after giving up hopes for a Senate confirmation vote. The recess appointment means the agency is able to oversee a vast swatch of lending companies and others accused at times of preying on consumers with shady practices.

Consumer groups hailed Obama's decision; the U.S. Chamber of Commerce balked and warned it was so legally shaky that the consumer bureau's work may be compromised.

Republican senators have called the consumer bureau too powerful and unaccountable, and held off on Cordray's bid as a means to get changes.