A majority of the Senate Banking Committee voted to pass President Obama’s nomination of Richard Cordray to lead the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Thursday morning. Cordray’s nomination passed the Committee with a straight party line vote of 12-10. Cordray, a former Ohio Attorney General, is now subject to an official Senate vote, but has made it further than Elizabeth Warren, the bureau’s architect. While Cordray has not faced the intense grilling Elizabeth Warren experienced when she was the bureau’s de facto leader and presumed director nominee, Sen. Richard Shelby (R- Ala.) told the banking panel Cordray’s nomination is still “quite premature.” He added, “We do not believe the committee should consider any nominee until reforms are adopted to make the bureau accountable to the American people.” Shelby warned every American will be effected by the power of the CFPB being placed in the hands of one director. “Despite having such broad powers, there is no meaningful check on the director’s authority,” Sen. Shelby said. Americans for Financial Reform released a statement Thursday supporting the nomination as it heads to the Senate for a vote. “American families want and need someone to level the playing field and prevent tricks and traps in the financial services market,” said Lisa Donner, executive director of Americans for Financial Reform.  “We call on all Senators to stand up for families and confirm Richard Cordray as CFPB director.” Other consumer agencies weighed in on the Senate Banking Committee’s majority vote for Cordray’s nomination to move forward. “The Senate Banking Committee did the right thing this morning,” said Preeti Vissa of the Greenlining Institute community reinvestment director. ‘Richard Cordray is an outstanding nominee, and CFPB is a vitally important bureau that can’t fully do its job until a director is in place. Threats to filibuster Mr. Cordray’s nomination are nothing less than an assault on American consumers.” Write to Kerri Panchuk.