Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE) explicitly told reporters this evening he's not committed to voting for the legislation, citing a handful of measures, and concern about potential future directors of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
"You don't know who's going to be head of the consumer protection bureau," Nelson said after a vote. "You can't just send a rogue agency out on its own."
The suggestion is that Nelson wants input behind the scenes on who the White House might nominate to run the new agency.
Between the death of Robert Byrd, and the opposition of Sen. Russ Feingold, Democrats had been down to 57 votes for the bill within their own party. But by winning votes from Republicans Snowe, Scott Brown, and Susan Collins, they would have been at 60. Nelson once again leaves them a vote shy. If he remains undecided for more than a few days, Dems will have to wait on Manchin, who said he's likely to appoint a new senator by the beginning of next week.
Maybe next week.
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