The U.S. Chamber of Commerce praised the Senate for refusing to confirm Richard Cordray as the director of the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Senators opposing the nomination got it right — this isn’t about Cordray’s credentials but, rather, about preventing a deeply flawed agency from moving forward without substantial reforms.

Perhaps unwilling to take no for an answer, President Barack Obama reportedly may circumvent the Senate confirmation process altogether by appointing Cordray during recess. This would undermine the collaboration needed to fix our economy and modernize the financial system. It would also take away the only real check Congress has over the bureau’s enormous power — the confirmation of its director. And an unreformed, unaccountable CFPB would threaten our recovery at the worst possible time.

We should root out the predatory lending, financial scams and fraud that poison a competitive marketplace and harm consumers and legitimate businesses.

But what’s also important — to economic growth and job creation and to borrowers and businesses acting in good faith — is the availability of credit and capital. The current structure of the CFPB will breed uncertainty, restrict credit and stifle innovation when we need it most.

The fixes are obvious and necessary. First, the CFPB is exempt from nearly all the checks and balances that keep other independent regulatory bodies, such as the Consumer Product Safety Commission, transparent and accountable. The CFPB is led by a single, powerful director — the agency’s only Senate-approved position. Its top post carries a five-year term, and the director can’t be fired, even by the president, outside of extraordinary circumstances. The CFPB’s power should be decentralized through a bipartisan panel of commissioners, ensuring balanced debate and a diversity of viewpoints.

Second, that powerful director controls an annual budget exceeding $500 million. Neither Congress nor the administration has any say on how that money is spent. This needs to change. The CFPB’s budget must be submitted to Congress to ensure oversight of the agency’s spending and policy priorities.

Third, the CFPB has been empowered to ban or change financial services or products without sufficient coordination with federal banking regulators. That means so-called consumer protections could come at the cost of financial institutions’ stability. And if banks are pushed into failure by new rules, the collateral damage will hit consumers. There must be a meaningful safety and soundness check that will factor in the impact of the CFPB’s rules.

Until those fundamental flaws are fixed, the president should stand down.

— Tom Donohue is president and CEO of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.