Warren noted that White continues to recuse herself from cases in which clients of her husband's firm are involved. Without White's vote, the result often is a 2-2 vote, split between Republican and Democratic commissioners, that blocks any enforcement action. Any company with a clue knows if it hires White's husband's firm, it has a good chance of walking free. That may be good for her husband's career, but not for the Republic.
This suggests that Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown was right when he voted against White's nomination: White simply is not in the position to do her job effectively.
Warren also indicts White for blocking any consideration of a corporate political contribution disclosure rule. Since the conservative gang of five Supreme Court justices opened the door to unlimited corporate political spending in Citizen's United, legislators and citizens have called on the SEC to require corporations to disclose their contributions, a matter of obvious concerns to stockholders. Before White was appointed, the SEC was considering the issue. White has blocked any action, a stunning dereliction of duty for the chief cop on the corporate beat.
No wonder financial lobbyists are buzzing. Warren has taken a stick to their cozy hive. Her indictment of White is measured and devastating. It is time for White to "step up" or step down. Warren is to be applauded for doing what senators should do: holding regulators' feet to the fire in the public's interest.
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