Progressives push Cuomo over regulatory replacement

Progressives including Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass) are pressing New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) to appoint a former top official at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to a top Wall Street regulatory post.

{mosads}Fourteen liberal groups — including the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, Democracy For America and Credo — called on Cuomo to name Rohit Chopra as the next New York banking and insurance superintendent to replace Ben Lawsky, who is stepping down to start his own technology-based political consulting firm.

Warren told The Wall Street Journal earlier this week that Chopra would be “phenomenal” in the post.

“If Gov. Cuomo replaces a real ‘cop on the beat’ with a Wall Street lapdog, the whole country will be worse for it,” Murshed Zaheed, deputy political director at Credo Action, said in a statement. “He will be sending a signal to progressives in New York and across the country that he doesn’t care about financial reform and strong enforcement of the laws already on the books.”

Progressives have largely praised Lawsky for his tough tactics against Wall Street. And liberals are worried that Cuomo won’t replace Lawsky with one of their allies.