Elizabeth Warren Returns for More Hill Testimony

Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., has asked Elizabeth Warren to return to Congress this month to finish testifying about the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) after last week’s hearing ended abruptly with verbal hostilities, the National Journal reports.

Warren, who is supervising set-up of the controversial office, clashed with a subcommittee chairman, Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., who accused the Harvard professor and White House adviser of lying about her work and about the scheduling of last week’s testimony.

Issa, chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, sent a letter to Warren this week requesting more testimony. The letter cited “the inability of all members ... to ask you questions" and "your unwillingness to provide direct and responsive answers to a number of important questions.”

The CFPB as it’s being structured under the Dodd-Frank financial overhaul has drawn fierce opposition from Capitol Hill Republicans, who say the agency will operate with far too little congressional oversight. Republicans also oppose Warren as President Barack Obama’s possible nominee to run the bureau.

Policy disagreements between Warren, a vocal critic of the banking industry, and GOP lawmakers have intensified into what seems to be a mutual, visceral dislike. McHenry last week said Warren exhibited a “blatant sense of entitlement.”

A conciliatory-sounding statement from Warren’s office this week said she “appreciates ... checks and balances” and “looks forward to her next appearance before the committee.”