The Treasury Department issued a press release announcing that Raj Date will replace Elizabeth Warren as Special Advisor to the Secretary of the Treasury on the CFPB, effective August 1. A blog I read understands that Mr. Date will replace Professor Warren as Special Advisor to the President.

Critics of the current structure of the Bureau—including this author—believe that Dodd-Frank concentrates far too much power in a single unelected official. Defenders of the current structure respond that the Bureau needs to be completely immune from political influence. My question is this: If the Bureau is supposed to be beyond politics, why is any Bureau official reporting to the Secretary of the Treasury or the President?