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Senate Democrats told the president Thursday that they back his re-nomination of Richard Cordray as CFPB director and that they will oppose efforts to thwart the appointment or restructure the bureau in return for confirmation.

All 43 Senate Republicans have said they plan to block Cordray's confirmation to a five-year term. The president sent the nomination officially to the Senate Wednesday. Fifty-four Senate Democrats signed a letter to the president Thursday in support of the move and vowing to keep the bureau structured as it is now.

"Without a strong CFPB with a Director at its helm to implement critical reforms and level the playing field between banks and non-banks, our still fragile economic recovery could be dealt a serious setback," they urged.

NAFCU supports the CFPB's role in overseeing previously non-federally regulated financial providers. However, it opposed placing any credit unions, which did not contribute to the financial crisis, under bureau oversight. The association also supports revising CFPB structure to include a five-member, bipartisan commission instead of a single director. Even so, it has worked closely with CFPB officials, including Cordray, in efforts to prevent the overgrowth of new regulatory burdens for credit unions.