SEC chairman responds to McCain
Posted: Thursday, September 18, 2008 4:42 PM by Mark Murray
Filed Under:
Economy
From NBC's Mark Murray
SEC Chairman Chris Cox just released this statement: "While I have great respect for Sen. McCain, we have sometimes disagreed, and this is one such occasion. The SEC has made plain that we have zero tolerance for naked short selling. In this market crisis, the men and women of the SEC have responded valiantly as they always do -- with the utmost dedication and professionalism. Addressing the extraordinary challenges facing our markets, the independent and bipartisan SEC has taken the following decisive actions."
More: "I very much appreciate the strong and immediate support of the president. As someone who has been in public life for over 20 years, I know as well as anyone that occasionally this sort of thing can come with the territory. The best response to political jabs like this is simply to put your head down and not lose a step doing the best job you can possibly do on behalf of those you serve. For my part, I plan to do just that. I leave the political campaigns to pursue their own course."
There is also the question whether McCain -- constitutionally -- could actually fire Cox if he were president. A 1935 Supreme Court decision said that FDR overstepped his bounds when he tried to dismiss a commissioner at the Federal Trade Commission.
However, the McCain camp argues that McCain could remove Cox as chairman, since the president gets to designate one of the SEC commissioners as chairman. "Not only is there historical precedent for SEC Chairs to be removed, the president of the United States always reserves the right to request the resignation of an appointee and to maintain the customary expectation that it will be delivered,” said spokesman Tucker Bounds in an email.
